A Valkyria's Redemption
by Dark-Warrior100
Summary: What if Selvaria had realized that Maximilian did not care for her, and joined Gallia after being convinced by Squad 7 and a certain imperial tank commander? Will she be able to fight against the man she once loved, or will her emotions prevent her?
1. The Cruelest Order

Hey there, and thanks for taking interest in this story. First things first is that this is my first story, so I would like any constructive criticism you can give so I can improve my writing for future chapters/chapters, but if you like the story, please tell me, because It gives me motivation to bring out more chapters. Secondly, I was inspired to make this story by an idea posted up by Darrius Cole of gamefaqs.

This story takes place from chapter 15 and onwards, so if you haven't completed that part of the game, then beware of spoilers.

I would also like to note that I was pretty nervous about uploading this, but that's because I always think about the worst case scenario. It's a bad habit of mine.

Second note: I did give Jaeger old friends back in his homeland, and a wife and a kid, though they won't actually appear in this fic, only mentioned. I figured it would be a good reason for why he works with Maximilian, so that they aren't harmed. I also changed some dialogue to help set up the upcoming chapters better.

One final note: What does "AU" mean? And what's the name of Jaeger's homeland? I know it's mentioned in the game at some point.

Sorry for taking up your time reading the above, just wanted to get some thoughts out. Hopefully you'll enjoy this fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyria Chronicles.

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The wind was gently breezing through the quiet citadel at Ghirlandaio, as imperial troops waited in battle positions for the Gallian army to arrive. The gentle breeze gave the imperials a peace of mind, but in reality, they were afraid. Afraid that the enemy would use the Valkyria they had used at Naggiar again. The same Valkyria that defeated their Valkyria in combat. They knew if Gallia decided to use her again, there hopes of surviving this fight would be reduced to zero. However, none of these soldiers were as emotionally unstable as their commander was. Their commander stood on the higher floor of Ghirlandaio's courtyard, pointing her gun at the south wall, ready to pull the trigger the instant the Gallians breached it and came through.

The gentle breeze flowed through her grayish-white hair, lifting it a bit before the strands fell back down onto the back of of her neck and armor. Her red eyes full of anger as she slowly looked up at the setting sun, then looking back through her gun's scope. Despite how she looked and acted at the moment, she was at war with herself. Her name is Selvaria Bles. She is one of the crown prince of the Empire Maximilian's generals, as well as being a descendant of the ancient Valkyur, who wielded spears and shields, but had the power to crush entire armies with little effort. However, she had been bested at the plains of Naggiar by another scion of the Valkyur, and lost her spear and shield as a result. Now, she was at the citadel at Ghirlandaio, prepared to defend it until her last breath for Maximilian, even though she was now mortal. Selvaria was no longer the god-like deity that the Gallians would have screamed and fled in terror from the instant she entered the battlefield. She closed her eyes and remembered the events that had led up to her current location, a single tear escaping form her eye.

Selvaria loved Maximilian, and wanted to help him achieve his dream of overthrowing the emperor and taking the Empire all for himself. To that end, she would do anything for him. She had even confessed the love she had for him during their talk they had before the battle began, but she wasn't expecting to hear the order that came out of his mouth soon after.

"So Selvaria. You report that the strength of the enemy matches our own. In that case, let the fire of destruction rain down upon them. Use the final flame of the Valkyria."

For a moment, it had felt like someone had just taken her old Valkyrian lance and stabbed her through her heart with it. She couldn't believe what he had said. The Valkyria's final flame…the strongest ability any of the Valkyur could use, but it was so powerful that it claimed the life of the one that dared to unleash such a devastating power.

Her breath deepened as she tried to say something, but words failed to leave her. After regaining a bit of her focus, one word left her mouth.

"But!" her voice was deep with shock, but hidden in that shock was a little sense of sadness, as well as the smallest little trace of anger. She was full of mixed emotions, pulling at her mind from all sides. On part of her was telling her to accept Maximilian's order and to sacrifice herself to activate the final flame, while another was telling her to refuse it and try to find another way to defeat Gallia's forces.

As she was ravaged by her emotions, she quickly returned to reality to find that Maximilian had turned around and began to leave the room, saying nothing to her. At this point, she was in denial, and softly begged "Your grace…" trying to find comfort, but it fell short as Maximilian stopped and stayed where he was for a few seconds.

"The hour of your death shall mark the inauguration of Our rule. Farewell, Selvaria."

These words were all that he said, never showing any sign of emotion as he spoke them. However, these words gave her more pain and sadness than any device of mankind could ever hope to achieve. Her eyes began to water up as Maximilian began walking again, staring at him. When he wouldn't look back however, Selvaria looked down at the ground and fell to her knees, letting the tears in her eyes fall to the floor in front of her.

Little to Selvaria's and Maximilian's knowledge, there was a third person standing outside the door, who had overheard the entire conversation. He was the only other surviving member of Maximilian's three generals that came to Gallia. The final member, Gregor, had been killed when the Equess, a massive train that was set up high on rails, fell into the water chasm below due to a bomb that was attached to the track support beams by a man named Zaka, and the members of squad 7 who set it off successfully.

This man was known as Radi Jaeger. He is an amazing commander when it came to handling troops, even more amazing when it came to tank tactics. In truth, he hated Maximilian to the core, but he was forced to work for him so that Maximilian would give back the sovereignty to Jaeger's homeland. Unlike Maximilian, Jaeger knew about honor, and how Maximilian treated Selvaria disgusted him. Jaeger knew that Maximilian had no interest in Selvaria besides her Valkyrian powers, which was why Maximilian had no problem telling her to use the Valkyria's flame.

Maximilian stepped outside of the room and closed the door, and turned to leave Ghirlandaio, but Jaeger stopped leaning against the wall and walked up to Maximilian, who stopped walking when he knew who was coming to him. Jaeger stopped, and in a stern and bold voice, said

"Can't say that I'm impressed your Grace. Making a lady cry?"

Maximilian turned around to face him, never changing the emotionless expression that seemed to be forever plastered on his face. If you ever looked into Maximilian's eyes, it would feel like he was trying to analyze you. Jaeger certainly felt it as Maximilian's eyes seemed to pierce through him like a sword. Finally, Maximilian broke the silence.

"This is simply one of a number of scenarios we'd planned for since before Naggiar. If her prowess as a Valkyria is insufficient, Selvaria's uses quickly narrow down to one."

Jaeger expected him to say something like this. As much as he would like to start shouting at the prince, he knew that it would have bad consequences, the worst being the destruction of his homeland, and Jaeger wanted to avoid it no matter what, to protect his old friends, his fellow citizens, and to protect his wife and child he had back in his homeland.

"Hmph." He growled. Maximilian raised an eyebrow for a second, but lowered it. He was about to say something, but Jaeger had remembered that the Gallians had sent a letter. "Anyway, there's a messenger here for you straight from castle Randgriz."

Jaeger pointed at the nearby window, which gave a clear view of the entrance hall where people would have to wait until they could be seen by the governor during the times when Ghirlandaio was still an area where merchants could set up shops and sell their wares to traveller coming through the area. Just like Jaeger said, there was a Gallian soldier, holding a letter in his hand from the Randgriz royal family. Maximilian looked at the soldier, then fixed his gaze upon the letter. It was sealed with a different seal than normal, which was how Maximillia knew what it was, but he could care less about it, for he had better things to do.

"So there is." He replied, turning back to look at Jaeger. "Let him wait. I have no time for simple messengers now. We are set to commence operation Steel Scythe. Jaeger, prepare to return to the east."

There was only one reason why Maximilian would want to return east, and Jaeger realized why he wanted Selvaria to remain at Ghirlandaio and use the final flame. Astonished, he asked

"What? Then it's…the Marmota's finished?" He couldn't believe what he heard. The last report they received was that the Marmota was supposed to take another week or two.

_The Emperor probably hurried its completion, due to the fact that if it was completed and Gallia was taken, the Federation would fall like ants before the Marmota and the Empire._ He thought. It was then that he realized that Maximilian had nodded his head.

"It is. Word has come it has completed its trial run." He said with confidence in his voice. Jaeger knew that whenever Maximilian spoke of something with confidence, it usually means a huge amount of trouble for his enemies. Jaeger gave a slight nod, and Maximilian continued. "The Gallians are hasty to assume victory. We shall see them gutted yet." After he spoke his last word, he turned around and walked off, leaving Jaeger alone. He decided to go in and see how Selvaria was holding up.

He opened the door to find Selvaria in the exact same crouching position she was in before, although it appeared she had stopped crying. Jaeger walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn't respond. The silence had a sense of dread and doom hanging over it. After a while, he finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. He was going to turn to leave, but he just couldn't bear to hear Selvaria threw away her life for a man that only saw her as a tool. A few moments later, a thought struck him, and he spoke again.

"Selvaria. There's no need to throw away your life for him. The Marmota has been completed, and with it, we'll crush Gallia's army as effectively as the final flame could. You have a full life ahead of you; why waste it if the Marmota is going to destroy the Gallian's anyway?"

Selvaria turned her head a bit, but still didn't look at him. In her head, she knew what he was saying was correct, but the part of her that loved Maximilian just wouldn't go away, and was overpowering her common sense quickly. Trying to hide her sadness, she whispered

"Jaeger…why do you care whether I live or die?" She asked, her eyes a bit watery and red, but not as much as before. Jaeger frowned and struggled to say his next words, as they were painful memories. He finally told her.

"Because I once had a friend who did the same as you are about to do. When the empire invaded my homeland, we were in the same situation as Gallia was at the start of this war. The leader of the enemy forces was inside an incredibly strong heavy tank, and the situation was hopeless. We only had one grenade left, but unless we managed to chuck it inside the tank, we would die. We were going to surrender, but my friends picked up the last grenade and charged at the tank, getting blasted by tons of bullets in the process, but he kept running. He got on top of the tank and managed to get the hatch open and went inside, but since the grenade only had a 3 second time limit, I knew he wouldn't make it out of there. All I could do was watch as my best friend and that tank exploded and went up in flames. We thought we had won, but my friend's sacrifice was in vain as Gregor arrived with enemy reinforcements. I managed to shoot him in one of his legs, but was captured as a result." It pained Jaeger to say it, and Selvaria could hear the sadness and pain in his voice.

Jaeger continued. "My friend died a pointless death trying to be a hero, but it was all in vain. I don't want you to sacrifice yourself in vain either. For what happens if you sacrifice yourself, but Maximilian loses and the Marmota's destroyed? But if you don't kill yourself and the Marmota's destroyed, at least you'll be alive, and be free to live the life you were taken from."

Selvaria looked at him for a second, then turned her head again to avert his eyesight, saying nothing. Jaeger had a feeling she wasn't going to say anything else, so he turned around and he walked out the door and outside where sunlight began beaming down on his face as he walked over to the stationary vehicle. He got inside the comfortable home away from home he has known for many years, the Lupus. The engines roared, but instead of following Maximilian's transport vehicle, the Lupus headed off towards Naggiar, for reasons unknown.

Selvaria did not know know how much time had passed since Maximilian and Jaeger had left, but it felt like an eternity to her as she was struggling with her emotions, trying to get them all back to normal. To her, it felt like her mind was at war with itself. The side of her that was telling her to do what Jaeger said and flee was fighting hard against the side of her that was telling her to activate the final flame of the Valkyria and destroy the Gallians.

Ever since Maximilian had taken her away from that horrible, filthy, dark place that reeked of death and devoid of happiness and light, she swore loyalty to him and him alone, completing any order he gave without any questions asked. It was not until later that she realized that she loved him, although she kept it quiet. She had gained a fierce reputation due to her services, and Maximilian had given her the Ruhm, a prototype gun that combined the accuracy and range of a sniper rifle with the ammo clip, rapid fire and power of a machine gun in one beautifully made package. Despite all these things Maximilian had done for her, and always obeying his orders, she found herself questioning the orders he had given her.

She could only sit and think for what felt like an eternity, before an imperial soldier came in through the doors in a hurry, obviously to report something urgent. He breathed for a couple seconds, and then with panic in his voice, shouted:

"General Selvaria! The Gallian army is on their way to Ghirlandaio, and we are outnumbered! What should we do?"

Selvaria got up from the ground, wiped her eyes and turned around to face the soldier.

"Flip the rail switches, so that Gallia's main force will have to go around the center gates. Man all the cannon bunkers and mortars that line Ghirlandaio's wall!" She commanded, going over to the table in the center of the room and picking up Ruhm, that had been lying there ever since she put it down and reported the results of Naggiar to Maximilian, which was when he gave her the cruelest order. She loaded up some ammo into it and grasped it tightly, then shouted "One third of the forces will remain in Ghirlandaio as reinforcements, and will be the final line of defense if Gallia somehow breaches Ghirlandaio's walls. I will command them. The other two-thirds will head outside to attack the Gallian army. Make sure they use the terrain of Ghirlandaio to their advantage. You'll be in charge of them Liutenant."

The Soldier put up his hand and saluted her, while he shouted "Yes general!" He put his hand down back to his side and rushed off to assemble the troops and get them into battle positions. However, Selvaria remained in the room. After a minute or so, she looked down at Ruhm, which had lost the shine that it had before she talked to Maximilian, almost as if it was reflecting on Selvaria's sadness. Selvaria looked up and ran out of the room to head to the main courtyard of the citadel, where she would get the troops into battle positions and prepare for the events that would unfold in a matter of hours.

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So, do you like it so far? R&R would be appreciated thank you very much. I have lots of computer time, so I'll update this as often as I can. If you have any constructive criticism please tell me, though no flames. I may not be the best writer, but that's what reviewers are for!

Oh yeah, I was considering making a chapter where Jaeger would have a flash back and I'd dedicate an entire chapter to write about what I think the war with Jaeger's homeland was like, but I don't know if you guys would like the idea. Thoughts?

Finally, the next chapter will be the battle at Ghirlandaio and the aftermath, as well as that fat general Damon's fate. Will he die or live?


	2. The Citadel and the Rebirth

To everyone that left a review: Thank you for your reviews!

And I'd like to thank the people who read the first chapter.

I would have updated earlier, but exams are coming up and I've been bombarded with homework, so the next update will probably be around the 20-30th.

Also, please forgive any grammar/spelling errors, I am a bit exhausted from projects.

Now, I hope you enjoy the second chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyria Chronicles.

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For about an hour, Ghirlandaio was very silent, with the only noises being made came from the movements of the soldiers as they tried to feel more comfortable in the grass, the occasional cough, and the sounds of guns being loaded. A couple of the soldiers were shaking, some looked fiercely determined, and others looked between the two.

Selvaria had been using this time to think deep on what Jaeger said to her. She understood what he meant, and mostly agreed with it, but her feelings for Maximilian had her chained to the spot, as though they were controlling her body. Eventually, she had managed to come to a decision.

I will stand and fight…for there still is a chance I will be able to defeat the Gallians without having to resort to the final flame.

A fierce determination boiled within her now as she looked at the horizon, seeing rows upon rows of Gallian soldiers approaching Ghirlandaio. She took out her set of binoculars one of the soldiers gave her an hour ago, and began spying on their army. She eventually stopped and fixed her gaze upon a certain group of soldiers. They were at the front of the Gallian army, and Selvaria recognized them.

"The Gallian soldiers that me and Maximilian fought back at Barious…the militia."

Selvaria remembered the battle at Barious. Maximilian gave her the lance and shield that were in the ruins, and that was when she annihilated nearly two squadrons worth of men east of that temple, then came to the west to help Maximilian and his tank, the Batomys. Despite her efforts, the militia destroyed the Batomys, although she held off the militia long enough for Maximilian to escape.

She continued gazing through her binoculars when she stopped again. The expression on her face quickly transitioned into bitter hatred. She was gazing at a certain person that had humiliated and beaten her at Naggiar plains. Gallia's Valkyria…Alicia Melchiott.

However, Selvaria was a bit relieved when she saw that Alicia wasn't carrying her lance and shield, which meant that there was some chance of victory. She put away her binoculars and turned on her wireless headset, and took a deep breath.

"Men! Listen well!" She said, her voice echoing throughout Ghirlandaio. "While watching the approaching Gallian army, I happened to see their Valkyria." The soldiers became agitated as they waited to hear whether Gallia's Valkyria was going to use her power or not. Selvaria took another deep breath, and in the most courageous voice she could muster, shouted "However! Their Valkyria appears to be fighting as a mortal woman now, for she is holding a rifle, and I cannot see her lance and shield anywhere nearby!" A loud sigh of relief could be heard all around Ghirlandaio as imperial soldiers knew that this battle wasn't hopeless.

Selvaria turned off her headset and looked back at the Gallian army, which had separated into two units. One of the units was small, and composed of the entire militia, along with a few soldiers of the central forces, and the other unit was massive, which was composed of the Central forces and the rest of Gallia's army. The smaller army began to move to Ghirlandaio, while the larger force set up camp.

In her mind, Selvaria knew that by the end of this battle, she would confront the other Valkyria. When that happened, Selvaria would fight her, and then kill her to cleanse the defeat at Naggiar that stained her name.

Meanwhile, the Lupus had arrived at Naggiar, where its hatch was opened, and Jaeger stepped down to the baron, blood stained soil, the ground lined with bullet holes, large holes and gunpowder residue. A couple other men got out of the tank, and lined up behind Jaeger. Jaeger gave them all a slight nod, then the soldiers rushed off in multiple directions. Jaeger stood there for a few moments before he got back in the tank. He looked over at his tank pilot and confidently said

"Come on. Lets get searching for it. She'll need it if she wants to defeat the Gallians."

The Lupus's engines roared, and the tank began moving along the eerie plains, a gloomy atmosphere hanging above them, as if to remember all the blood that was spilled here.

An hour or so passed, when he heard something on his headset. He turned the volume up a bit, and asked "What's the matter soldier? Have you found it?" Jaeger listened intently as he heard the soldier say "Yes, it's located near the base that those accursed Squad 7 members defeated two of our Dromedarius tanks sir." Jaeger smiled, and said "All right. Stay where you are. I'll make sure to reward you once we get it for your hard work." He heard the soldier hum with glee before the communication ended.

About 5 minutes later, he had arrived at his destination. He studied the area intently and spotted the soldier, so he began to walk over to him.

So this is where Gallia's Valkyria single-handedly annihilated an entire bas, as well as an entire battalion.

Once he got close enough, the soldier came up to him, holding two objects in his hands. Jaeger smiled as he took the objects into his hands. "You have done a very good job soldier. Now here's that reward I promised you." Jaeger put down one of the objects to search his pocket, and pulled out a small sack of money, and threw it to the soldier. The soldier looked inside and smiled, satisfied with the amount he had gotten. Jaeger picked up the object that he had placed on the ground, and commanded "All right, now tell the other troops to head back to Ghirlandaio."

After all, he had to give back the spear and shield he held in his hands to its rightful owner. She'd need them.

Back at Ghirlandaio, the Gallians had begun their attack. The all-too familiar 'Squad 7, move out!' could be heard as Welkin Gunther got into the Edelweiss and closed the hatch above him.

_This is going to be a long battle_. He thought as he turned on his wireless headset, and told Rosie to get the shocktroopers ready for the advance. He closed his eyes and remembered the battle plan Varrot had come up with.

"The track that the train bomb will be moving along heads straight north to Ghirlandaio, but the main road is heavily defended. Luckily, there is a triple fork in the road, so I'd advise you split the squad into 3 sections, so the enemy can't surround you as your members head to the first rail switch. From there, re-assemble the squad at the first rail switch, then split them into two teams to head west and east. The second rail switch is guarded by a minefield, so I suggest getting an engineer in there. Make your way around to the south wall of Ghirlandaio, then flip the final rail switch. Beware of mortars."

Just as Varrot suggested, Welkin split the squad into 3 parts. Rosie went along the left fork with a couple of men, Alicia went along the right fork with some men, which left Welkin to head up the center fork. Just as predicted, the center fork was guarded by a heavy tank. By the time Welkin noticed it, it had already aimed at the Edelweiss and fired a shot that blasted the side of the tank, dealing light damage. Welkin retaliated by shooting his own shell at the tank, but it missed its target by a few inches. The tank's small cannon used the situation to quickly fire another blast at the Edelweiss, narrowly missing the tank's radiator. The tank turned a bit so it could fire again, but before it got the chance to finish off the Edelweiss, Largo had managed to sneak around it in the grass and unloaded a lance into the heavy tank's radiator, blowing it to smithereens as shrapnel flew in all directions, one piece even impaled a nearby imperial soldier and killed him.

Largo got out of the grass and waved at the Edelweiss with a big grin on his face, shouting:

"Hey boss! You should be more careful! These are the elite troops of the Empire you know!"

Welkin knew Largo was giving him a tip, but somehow it felt like he was rubbing it in.

"I know Largo, I just never expected them to get a lot tougher though. Compared to previous soldiers, these imperials seem a lot more trained."

Largo nodded his head but then turned his head when he heard a loud siren go off.

"Mortars…damn it! We got to avoid them!"

Welkin spoke into his headset and alerted everyone about the mortars. Alicia's and Rosie's groups arrived within a minute, a couple men wounded. Alicia looked around and spotted the first rail switch, and walked over to it. There was a little handle on it that moved the rails. She pulled the lever and the rail tracks switched into their correct position.

The next rail switch was a lot more complicated. Surrounding it was two heavy tanks, multiple gatling guns, and a whole lot of mines scattered everywhere. Welkin thought for a minute, then an idea hit him.

"Fire a smoke round!" he shouted as the cannon fired one of Isara's smoke shells, which bursted into a massive smokescreen. The Edelweiss moved forward a bit, but not too much so it looked like it entered the smokescreen, but it actually didn't.

"Is the mortar ready?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Yes sir! Ready to fire at your command!" The soldier that was manning the mortar replied.

"All right then! Target the smokescreen! He's bound to be in there somewhere!" The Lieutenant declared, and the mortar fired off a massive shell that arched its way through the air and landed in the smokescreen, releasing a huge blast that blew away all the smoke.

Everything looked like it worked, but the Lieutenant noticed the Edelweiss was not in the explosion. That's when he realized that the mortar just hit the minefield and eradicated most, if not all the mines, as well as destroying the gatling gun that was set up at that base, and severely damaging the two tanks that were near the base, but got covered up in the smoke.

The Lieutenant couldn't help but just scream. "Damn that mother-******* tank tricking us!"

Welkin on the other hand, was quite pleased, and the two heavy tanks were destroyed by the Edelweiss and Largo, and the rail switch was activated. Following up with his quick victory, Welkin ordered all the troops to charge, and the next rail switch was flipped within minutes. Whatever remained of the imperials began retreating back into Ghirlandaio.

"All three rail switches have been flipped captain!" Welkin triumphantly said over his wireless headset. Varrot smiled, and quickly replied with

"Very good job Lieutenant Gunther. Now stand clear of the tracks, as the train will be arriving any minute now. When it destroys the south wall, go in and capture the citadel."

"Yes captain." Welkin replied as Squad 7 started moving out of the way of the tracks. A minute later, small rumbling could be felt in the ground as a small train loaded with a lot of different explosives came charging down the track. Moments later, the train collided with the south wall, causing the first bomb to go off. Following suit, every other bomb on the train exploded, creating a massive blast that blew the southern wall to bits, a thunderous roar echoing all around Ghirlandaio as chunks of rock and steel crumbled to the ground, creating a gaping hole where the south wall used to exist. The sun had mostly, the sky a bright orange in colour. Welkin had commented by saying the explosion looked like a giant large swarm of fireflys, though Alicia, Rosie and Largo questioned how they could look alike.

Inside of Ghrilandaio, Selvaria ducked to avoid multiple pieces of shrapnel and stone that would have impaled her. After the roar had stopped, she looked over the edge of her hiding spot to see the south wall had been completely eradicated, leaving nothing but a few chunks lying around and a ton of smoke. Moments later, she spotted the members of Squad 7 slowly coming in to the citadel, obviously on full alert so they aren't taken by surprise.

Among there members, Selvaria spotted Alicia, and intense anger began to well up inside her.

It's her fault I couldn't win Naggiar. Her fault that I've been forced into this situation, and her fault that I was ordered to use the final flame! Well, I'll make sure to repay her in kind!

Selvaria got up and stood in clear sight of Squad 7's members, but they hadn't noticed her yet. She turned on the mike function of her headset so that Squad 7 would be able to hear her voice.

"Proud warriors of Gallia! I must commend you, for you have breached Ghirlandaio's gates!" Selvaria said, her voice echoing throughout the smoking citadel. Alicia was the first person to spot her and shouted:

"Look up there! The Valkyria!"

The other members of Squad 7 looked up as well, different emotions revealing themselves on their faces, ranging from fear to anger. Selvaria stared at Alicia with hatred in her eyes, despising the very sight of her, for it always reminded her of her humiliating defeat.

"We meet again" She said in a soft voice, despite the urge she had to just fire Ruhm while the members of Squad 7 stared at her, not seeming to realize she was carrying a very lethal weapon in her hands. However, Selvaria had some honor to her Valkyrian heritage. When she was in Barious, one of the paragraphs that was written on the wall inside the spiral area room of the ruins said that whenever two Valkyur fought each other, whether it be training, a duel, a personal problem, etc, they would never resort to cowardly actions like attacking their opponent before they had the chance to retaliate. Selvaria's trust in how the Valkyur fought held her back from shooting Alicia, for she was also a Valkyur.

If I am going to defeat her, I will do it in a fair battle, not with cowardly tactics.

After her thought, she resumed speaking. "It appears as though fate is toying with us." She continued, her voice still as soft as ever, but faint traces of anger could be heard.

"You have already defeated me once as a Valkyria. Still, I have come to fight you again. It's a matter of pride. But this time, I will face you as a woman!" She finished, raising Ruhm and preparing it to fire against the foolish Squad that stood before her, pointing the barrel straight at Alicia.

"This will be our last time then. One of us is going to die here!" She shouted, sounding as brave as she possibly could, so that her men would be inspired as well. Adding on to that, she shouted "Now…we fight!" and she hopped down from part of the wall she was standing on to take cover.

Squad 7 got into their battle positions as Welkin shouted his usual trademark 'Squad 7, move out!' line he always said before every mission. Almost immediately afterward, Selvaria pulled Ruhm's trigger and a massive amount of bullets came hailing down on Squad 7's position. It's members either jumped behind the Edelweiss for cover or used the large hunk of rock and metal that was close by. Selvaria quickly pulled back to dodge Squad 7's counter attack, and loaded another magazine of ammo into Ruhm.

Multiple imperial soldiers had come out of hiding now, one of them being a heavy tank that was hiding behind a small building close to Squad 7's position. Welkin didn't notice it until the heavy tank opened fire and blasted the Edelweiss with a high-power tank shell, with the main tank activating it's mortar cannon and shooting a mortar out that caused a small explosion that sent all the members of Squad 7 that were hiding behind the large chunk of metal and rock nearby flying through the air. Selvaria seized the opportunity to fire down on the newly exposed enemies, the bullets bombarding the unfortunate members and severely wounding many of them. The heavy tank was about to fire another mortar shot to finish off the wounded people, but Jann, Audrey, and Largo had triple-teamed against the massive tank and destroyed it before it fired off another round.

Their luck would soon become bleak as multiple imperial shocktroopers came out of hiding and barraged the exposed lancers with a hailstorm of bullets, although the bullets narrowly missed their vital organs. The Edelweiss launched off a mortar round that blew the shocktroopers in all directions and killing them due to heavy impacts against walls.

The Valkyria's unbelievable…not only is she tough, but she's also incredibly intelligent when it comes to strategy. It's only been two minuets and she's managed to wound nearly half the squad.

Welkin snapped back to reality to see Selvaria planning to shoot at the wounded members of the squad. Welkin had already called for a medic, but he had to think of something, or Selvaria would mow down his squad with little effort. Welkin got an idea a moment later, and the Edelweiss fired a tank shell at Selvaria, who ducked in time to avoid it. The shell hit the wall behind and a slab of rock came crumbling down.

Selvaria rolled to the right in order to dodge the falling rock, but the Edelweiss had fired another shell at the wall behind her again, causing her to roll once again in order to avoid being crushed by the falling rock.

"Alicia! Bring some units with you and go up the right staircase while the enemy's distracted! Rosie, you head up the left staircase too!" Welkin shouted. He had to get up onto the higher walls of Ghirlandaio if he hoped to get his squad out in one piece. The medics arrived by now and were using the Shamrock as cover. A rumbling sound came to Welkin's left as the lift to his left turned on. The Edelweiss quickly drove over and got in, and soon emerged on the upper level.

"All right! We've gotten to the higher level! Now counter attack! Surround the enemy general!" Welkin shouted triumphantly, just before the Edelweiss was struck by a massive shell that could have only come from a tank destroyer.

Selvaria smirked. The tank destroyer was designed exactly as it sounded, and she knew the Edelweiss couldn't take another hit. She ordered the tank destroyer to fire again, but the destroyer blew up as she realized the tank's radiator had been hit in one of those 'dude, if you could make that shot again, I'd pay you a million dollars' scenarios by the Edelweiss. In a desperate act, she stealthily managed to get around Squad 7 and get behind the Edelweiss successfully. She raised Ruhm up and pointed right at its radiator.

They'll be forced to retreat if their commander dies. Farewell, annoying brat.

Just as her thought ended and she was going to pull the trigger, her luck ran out as the lift nearby had opened, revealing the Shamrock. Zaka noticed Selvaria standing behind the Edelweiss and activated the Shamrock's flamethrower, flames bursting out of the turret and flying straight at Selvaria.

Her luck changed for a moment as she noticed the flame's reflection in the Edelweiss's armor, and back-flipped to dodge the incoming flames. She was about to fire Ruhm again when she landed when a gunshot was heard and Selvaria felt a bullet enter her leg, massive pain spreading throughout her body as she fell over. Her vision faded a bit, and she dropped Ruhm from exhaustion.

I..have failed…the only option left…

She knew she had been beat, for it was requiring her entire strength just to stand up. Seeing their commander defeated, the rest of the imperials began to throw down their weapons and surrender.

The one who had gotten Selvaria in the leg was ironically Alicia, who rushed forward to pick up Ruhm and give it to Zaka for safety, leaving Selvaria defenseless. Selvaria stared at Alicia and Welkin with hatred in her eyes, wanting nothing more than to just kill them.

The Lupus roared as it fired multiple shells at nearby Gallian sentries that were stationed outside of the destroyed wall of Ghirlandaio, killing them all as their bodies were blown in different directions from the blasts. The Lupus roared into the silent citadel of Ghirlandaio, smoke rising from multiple locations from the intense fighting that took place.

Jaeger got out of the Lupus and parked it inside the darkness that had covered the entire lower level. He put on a Gallian soldier uniform he had stolen, and then walked up to a certain fat Gallian general and pretended to be one of his guards. Underneath Jaeger's armor was a certain ragnite lance and shield, which he was planning to give back to their rightful owner, assuming she was willing to go along with his plans.

Hopefully, she will turn over a new leaf once she hears my plan. If everything foes through, Gallia would be saved, Selvaria will live, and Fhirald will be ale to regain its sovereignty. Three birds with one stone.

His hope driving him, he followed Damon up to the higher levels, where Selvaria had been having a chat with Welkin and Alicia. By the time Jaeger got close enough to hear her, it sounded like the conversation was ending.

"Though I do have to admit, I am curious. Curious to see what cause your life will finally serve." Selvaria said as she glared at Alicia one last time, before Damon's lackeys pulled her away and to the main tower, where she was thrown into a cell.

Luckily for Jaeger, Damon pointed at him.

"You there! You are assigned to watch this war-witch until I'll see her in a few hours!" He said in that unbearably annoying voice of his, and handed Jaeger the keys to the cell.. Jaeger would have preferred to be deaf than have to listen to that fat, annoying ass general any more. Jaeger saluted Damon as best as he could, fighting back the urge to shoot the man where he stood, until Damon walked away up the flight of stairs, laughing in triumph at 'his' so-called victory.

Jaeger made sure that he was gone before turning around and opening up the cell and taking off the Gallian uniform and helmet he was wearing, and walking over to Selvaria, who was just sitting in a corner, unfazed from the surrounding cell, or the water that was leaking onto her shoulder from the ceiling.

"So Selvaria, now that you have lost, what are you going to do?" Jaeger asked. He was determined to convince her not to throw away her life, because Jaeger didn't want to have to see another brave person throw away their life meaninglessly, but because she also had a large potential if she lived. Her beauty could attract many men, and when she found that certain someone, the one that was truly meant for her, she would be able to raise a family. Not only that, but her Valkyrian powers would attract many armies and nations that were being oppressed by the Empire, one of them being Fhirald.

Selvaria made no movement, lost in her thoughts. Deep in her mind, she was still in confusion, trying to make up her mind, but the two sides of her continued to clash against each other, preventing her from making a decision.

Jaeger took out a small journal from his coat pocket and put it in front of Selvaria.

"I think you should read this. This isn't the first time Maximilian has done something like this." He said. This was his trump card. If this wouldn't convince her, nothing could.

Jaeger left the cell and closed it, putting on the Gallian uniform he was wearing earlier, and covering his face with a Gallian helmet. He picked up the Gallian rifle he was carrying earlier, and pretended to be guarding the cell, just in case anyone came by.

Selvaria stared at the book in front of her, and her curiosity got the better of her. She picked up the book and started reading it, astonished by how similar the woman in this book's situation was to what Selvaria's was at the moment.

This woman's name was Maria, who had lost her parents in the first Europan war. She had been planning to kill herself when Maximilian found her one day and took her in as one of his engineers. Her parents were known to be master technicians, and had helped contribute in the construction of the very first Tank Destroyer, as well as many other tank models the Empire used against the Federation with high success.

She proved to be as amazing as her parents, and her new inventions, such as weapons that fired poisonous rounds that would poison the enemy and kill them, if the bullets didn't do that first. She had also made the blueprints to the Eques, the massive train that would later be used at modern-day Fouzen against Squad 7. She had even developed the prototype to the Batomys, although the Empire would later create the Batomys that Maximilian drove at Barious.

Maximilian had always praised her for her accomplishments, which brought many victories against the Federation throughout small skirmishes. She had fallen in love with Maximilian, just like Selvaria had. One day, Maria completed her greatest invention, but it was only a prototype.

**Flashback:**

"My Lord Maximilian…I've created it! I did it!" Maria gleefully said, proud of her accomplishment.

The crown prince Maximilian turned around and smiled at her. "So, you completed the apparatus that artificially generates a Valkyur's power? Very well then. We shall test it out against the Federation in an upcoming battle."

Maria smiled, happy that Maximilian was pleased. About two days later, it was time for the battle, and the generator had been set up. Maximilian only brought 5000 men versus the Federation's 250,000 men. The Federation was going to do a full-scale invasion into the western area of the Empire, but Maximilian would stop them here.

Or more specifically, Maria would stop them. He turned on the generator, which shot pure blue energy into Maria's body, and she glowed just like a Valkyria. She raised the artificial lance and shot a huge energy blast out of its tip that blew down a whole squadron of Federation troops. Maximilian smiled at the sight, and spoke into Maria's ear.

"We have no time to waste here Maria. It would take too long to defeat them with just the normal Valkyrian powers, so let the fire of destruction rain down upon them. Use the artificial final flame that you can do."

**End Flashback**

Selvaria kept reading, and learned that Maria had initially refused, but Maximilian had placed a little amplifier on the apparatus that once activated, would force Maria to use the final flame, and he activated it once he was far enough away, causing Maria to unleash the destructive power and utterly annihilating the Federation's soldiers, and killing her as well. The page after contained a small report written by Maximilian that stated he had stolen the plans to the Valkyrian apparatus and was planning on making more of them.

Mixed emotions were filling Selvaria by this point, but they all soon turned to anger when she read the last line, which was about her.

**Now that Selvaria's Valkyrian powers have become insufficient, I will command her to unleash the final flame. This will destroy the Gallian army and ensure my victory. What's truly amazing is how loyal she is too me, just like that wretch Maria was. Selvaria won't dare to disobey me, for she is too ignorant to see the truth that I have been playing her like a puppet on my strings.**

Selvaria had made up her mind. She will destroy Maximilian for playing with her emotions like this. However, her feeling for Maximilian were still holding her back, and that's when she realized she needed to face them, to show them that she was going to live, and live the way she wanted, not on the end of some strings.

She focused and found her emotions for Maximilian, and lashed out at them, attacking them with all she had, trying to get them out of her head.

"_You care for him and you know it…so fufill his orders and show him your love!_" She heard her conscious say, trying it's last attempt to convince her otherwise.

"No. I will not. You may be right; I may still care for him, but now that I know the truth, you will not stop me anymore! Disappear from my mind forever!**" **She shouted back, lashing out at her feelings again. A scream could be heard in her head, and then all was silent. She couldn't hear her other self's words anymore. She was free. She got up and walked up to the cell bars.

"Jaeger…thank you. You…saved me from myself. You showed me Maximilian's true colors. Please let me out, for I have to repay Maximilian for playing with my emotions and manipulating me."

Jaeger smiled, slipping the key into the lock and opening the door.

"Then go get him Selvaria. Oh, and you may need these." With a satisfactory smile on his face, he pulled out the concealed Lance and Shield under his armor. Her lance and shield.

Taking them in her hands once again, she felt the Valkyur's power well up inside her as her body began to glow blue, and the lance and shield transformed right before Jaeger's eyes.

For the first time in a long time, Jaeger got to see Selvaria smile. They stood there for a second before Selvria broke the silence.

"If there's anything I can do to repay your kindness Jaeger, please tell me, and I will fufill it."

Jaeger smiled even wider and laughed, took off the Gallian suit and helmet he was wearing, and then began to walk up the stairs.

"We should go and join Gallia, for fighting with them will give us a better chance of seeing Maximilian again." Jaeger happily commented, for his dream was coming together right before him.

"Then maybe, you could come back to Fhirald with me. They could really use the help of a Valkyria to free themselves from the Empire's tyrannical rule."

Selvaria closed her eyes, and then laughed. "Very well then. Once Gallia is saved, then I shall help you reclaim Fhirald's sovereignty."

She raised her lance, which began to spin clockwise quickly, and a massive blue blast of energy tore through the wall, flooding Ghirlandaio's citadel with an azure shade. The two of them walked out of the hole Selvaria had created, and got inside the Lupus when they reached it after dodging a whole lot of surprised guards and sentries. They had to catch up to Squad 7, which had left about 2 hours ago.

Although all was not as it seemed, for little to her knowing, Selvaria hadn't managed to force her feelings for Maximilian completely out of her mind, as a bit of evil laughing could be heard in her head, but Selvaria was too happy and busy to hear it.

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Wow, that took me a while. The battle scene at Ghirlandaio was hard to write, but that's mostly because I haven't written many battle scenes.

As you'll notice throughout the story, Selvaria's feelings for Maximilian are going to turn into an 'alter ego' of sorts.

Oh, and don't worry, Damon isn't going to get off free. In fact, he's going to get…naw, I think I'll let you see I the next chapter.

I think I could have done a bit better on this chapter, but projects and studying have left me a bit exhausted.

Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! Please R&R!


	3. Rampage of the Dreadnaught

Sorry for the late update, but studying for exams came first. Damn Biology. _

Thanks for all the reviews everybody! It's your comments that encourage me to write more chapters!

And now, read the chapter, and review! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyria Chronicles.

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The Marmota slowly crawled along the ground, crushing every thing that stood before it. Trees were flattened, houses were demolished, and boulders were smashed against the Marmota's near-indestructible armor.

About two hours after Selvaria and Jaeger made their escape from Ghirlandaio, Gallia's main army was summoned back to Randgriz for a reward ceremony, and Damon decided to head south then west, so that he could dodge the rough terrain of the Naggiar plains and make it back to Randgriz faster than those blasted Militia peasants could.

It had been a day or so since the army had left Ghirlandaio, and they had just reached the northern edge of the Kloeden woods. The army had set up camp here so the soldiers could rest for an hour or so, but there little rest would turn out to be catastrophic, as a messenger had come from Randgriz. Damon was enjoying a nice feast that the cooks had prepared for him as a present for the capture of Ghirlandaio, but he agreed to see the messenger.

The messenger came running in and breathed heavily before speaking. "Sir! A giant imperial vehicle has been spotted in the Kloeden woods and it's heading this way!" Damon looked at the messenger and smiled, although it looked like he was scheming with how strange his smile looked.

"So, I get to have even more glory for defeating this new imperial vehicle huh? Once I destroy it, I'll be rewarded so much that I'll be able to buy myself a small island and live my life in absolute luxury!" He shouted, obsessing over the thought of having his own little island and having even more glory than General Gunther had after the first Europan war. "Ready the men lieutenant! We shall destroy that abomination and then head to Randgriz for our grand reward! We shall be heroes!"

The Lieutenant saluted Damon, and ran out of the tent. Damon got up after drinking the last of his wine, and went outside to get the soldiers moving. In his mind, he would destroy the vehicle, then go back to Randgriz and be rewarded, and use the wealth he would receive to buy his own island, and live in luxury.

…But unfortunately, this would not be the case.

An hour had passed as the Marmota slowly crawled along the ground, birds flying every direction to escape the giant dreadnaught as it trampled the trees and crushed anything beneath its massive exterior. The Gallian army had set up a blockade west of where the Marmota was heading, hoping they could re-direct it to a nearby canyon where it would be trapped once it fell into it.

Damon called the plan perfect, as though there was absolutely no chance of it failing, but he overlooked a painfully obvious flaw, and that was the Marmota could simply run over them. However, Damon and his troops were too happy to think about this glaring flaw, and it would cost them.

Maximilian was sitting down in his throne-like chair, smiling at the events to come. Selvaria would destroy the Gallian army, the Marmota would head to Randgriz and the Valkof would be attached to the Marmota, giving Maximilian a leviathan that not even his father could hope to stop. Gallia would surrender, and Maximilian would claim the Empire as his own using the Valkof and the Valkyrian apparatuses.

He was indulging himself in his thoughts when he was interrupted by a soldier who was standing in front of him.

"Sir! I came to inform you that the Gallian army is straight ahead! It's the forces that attacked Ghirlandaio!"

The instant Maximilian head the words 'Gallian' and 'army', he knew something was wrong. Selvaria should have destroyed them at Ghirlandaio using the final flame of the Valkyria.

"Have the scouts confirmed any explosion at Ghirlandaio?" Maximilian asked in a very pissed-off tone, for someone had thrown a monkey wrench into his plans.

_Now that We think about it, Jaeger still hasn't joined up with the Marmota…_ Maximilian thought as the soldier bowed before him.

"No sir. The only explosion that came from Ghirlandaio was from the south wall being blown down by Gallian bombs. However, the scouts did report seeing a blue light appear and blow a hole through the wall of the citadel. It resembled the attack that lady Selvaria used at Naggiar to destroy tank after tank." The soldier sounded nervous, hoping that Maximilian wouldn't take out his frustration on him.

A blue light? That can't be right. Selvaria had lost her lance and shield at Naggiar when Gallia's war-witch beat her. Unless…

"Has there been any word from Jaeger?" Maximilian asked. A thought was brewing in his head, but he needed to confirm it for himself. The soldier sounded even more panicked, meaning that there was even more bad news.

"About that sir… The scouts reported seeing the Lupus heading in the direction the Gallian militia had taken, not heading along that shortcut that our scouts found when we first invaded Gallia."

Hmm…Either Jaeger is trying to stall them, or he has betrayed Us.

Maximilian got up out of his chair and walked over to one of the windows. Exactly as the soldier said, there was the Gallian army right up ahead. And it wasn't the militia, for all their tanks were the Gallian main army model, not the watered-down versions that were given to the militia. Maximilian looked over to the men that were in charge of moving and steering the Marmota, a smile creeping across his face.

"Bring the Marmota to full speed and head straight! We shall crush those Gallian dogs beneath the Marmota's armor!" He commanded, raising a hand and pointing it to where the Gallian blockade had been set up. The crew saluted him, and then began working.

The Marmota began to increase in speed rapidly as a loud roar from its massive engines bowled over any trees that were too close to it. The hallways of the Marmota were lined with soldiers rushing to get their equipment, or to man the turrets that lined the Marmota's sides.

All the Gallian forces heard was the massive roar of the Marmota's engines, followed by a massive shockwave that knocked over a few soldiers. Even though the Marmota was a little distance away, the Gallian soldiers could still see the giant support towers that rose off the Marmota's hull. Not only were they good places for snipers to shoot enemies from, but they also had searchlights on them as well, and that was exactly what the imperials were using.

The searchlights from the towers were focused on the Gallian army's position, trying to blind them. Damon covered his eyes to protect them against the intense light that was beaming in his face, which lasted for a few seconds before the light stopped and a massive explosion was heard.

The Marmota had fired its cannons upon the blind Gallian army. The fight was incredibly one sided, for the Gallian army had barely enough time to react before they were bombarded by a flurry of tank shells, whistling through the air as they hit whatever stood in their path and blew it to smithereens. Damon tried to run over to his headset, but another shell had struck the ground a few meters to his left, causing him to tumble over in the process.

"Damn it! Attack that bloody thing! I want it eradicated!" Damon shouted, but his voice was drowned beneath the massive roars of the Marmota's engines and all the explosions that were occurring. Damon got up and looked left to right, seeing Gallian soldier throwing down their weapons and running for their lives.

"You peasant cowards!" He shouted at the fleeing soldiers, but their lives were more important than the commands of some general. Snarling, Damon ran over to his transport vehicle, realizing that any hopes of stopping the Marmota had run out.

Just as Damon got to the vehicle, a tank shell whistled over Damon's head, narrowly missing his head, and smashed into the vehicle, causing it to explode, and sending Damon's body flying into a tree as he screamed at what was happening.

Damon opened his eyes, and tried to stand up, but his legs were broken, causing immense pain to shoot throughout his body. All he could hear were his thoughts and a loud ringing sound. Not even the Marmota's engines could top them.

_No…I will not die…like this. I am Damon! Son of one of the greatest nobles of Gallia! I will not die like this!_

Since walking didn't work, he began to crawl, desperately trying to get away from the approaching Marmota. But, his fate would run out as the ringing sound disappeared long enough for him to hear the Marmota, and it sounded really close.

He looked behind him, his face full of fear and sadness as he saw the Marmota towering above him. Hoping that some kind of miracle would occur, he screamed as his body disappeared beneath the Marmota, and crushed by the weight of the massive battleship.

On the Marmota's deck, Maximilian looked at the widespread destruction the Marmota's rampage had caused. Little to nothing survived the Marmota's attack. Corpses were scattered everywhere, metal fragments from vehicles and tanks littered the ground, and blood was splattered along the ground, dyeing the ground a dark brownish-red.

"If this is the best that the Gallian army can do, then nothing will stop Us on the way to Randgriz!" He shouted. Maximilian laughed as he looked up at the sky, enjoying his thoughts of conquest of not only Gallia, but the throne of the Empire as well. A soldier came out onto the deck while he was laughing, and stood upright, waiting for Maximilian to stop.

Maximilian turned to his side and looked at the soldier, an evil smile plastered over his face. "What is it?" He questioned, turning his gaze up to the sky again. The Soldier raised his left arm and saluted the Prince.

"Maximilian sir! Visual reports show that nothing survived our onslaught. However, even if some enemies got away, they won't be able to stop the Marmota." The soldier said, bowing before Maximilian.

"Very well. How long will it take to reach Randgriz?" Maximilian questioned, his voice had a tone of excitement in it.

"About two days sir." The soldier said.

"All right, then tell the maids to prepare Our bed for Us." Maximilian said was getting a little drowsy, and if he was going to meet Gallia's princess, he would be sure to look his finest.

When he reached his room, his bed was neatly done, the sun's light lying on top of part of the blankets. He looked over to his desk and saw a letter addressed to him. He picked it up and opened it.

**Dear Your Highness Maximilian,**

**This is the Prime Minister of Gallia, Borg. As per your request, I have pulled out most of the Gallian royal army, so you will be able to enter Randgriz without any resistance, unless the militia somehow makes it back before you do. In exchange, you will honor your end of the promise and give Gallia's sovereignty to me. I shall rule it in your name.**

**From Prime Minister Borg.**

Maximilian read the letter thoroughly, and laughed at it. This man was too gullible. The Gallia of tomorrow had no use for such a treacherous man. Maximilian made a note to remember to execute Borg when he got to Randgriz.

Changing into more suitable clothes, he climbed into his bed and closed his eyes, and fell asleep sometime after.

Meanwhile, the Lupus had gained ground on the Gallian militia. Jaeger stopped for a second to let the Lupus cooled down, while Selvaria was gazing into the distance, seeing red color the horizon as smoke rose from the militia's temporary camp they had set up for the night.

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Once again, sorry for the late update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Yes, it is a bit short, but I thought I'd upload this so you guys/girls would know that I haven't abandoned this story, and I won't.

R&R!


	4. Evil and Good Plans Are Set Into Motion

Ugh, I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled out. It hurt for a while, but the major problem is that I have to use this little squirt gun to rinse out the holes where the wisdom teeth used to be so they don't become infected.

Secondly, thanks for reviewing guys/girls!

Dark Omega Z: Are you from GFAQS? I could have sworn I've seen a username like that on a couple of boards.

I would also like to thank Huhn, who is proof reading this and upcoming chapters for me!

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and its characters belong to SEGA.

Finally, onto chapter 4! I hope you enjoy!

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It had been about a day since Cordellia had sent her messenger out to inform General Damon about the Marmota, but the messenger had not returned to the castle. Cordellia had been getting a little worried, so she sent out a soldier to find out if anything had happened with General Damon's forces.

A few hours later, loud knocks could be heard throughout the throne room. A guard pulled the creaking majestic doors open. The soldier Cordellia had sent out before came running into the massive hallway, his face plastered with fear and confusion.

"General Damon's forces have been destroyed by the Marmota!" the soldier shouted, his voice echoing into the grand hallway. Cordellia looked shocked at this news, but Borg had a twisted smile on it, for this meant that nothing could stop Maximilian, and he would be crowned the new king of Gallia.

Cordellia regained her composure and sat up out of her seat and breathed nervously.

"It will take a while, but please send a messenger out to the militia forces that are coming back to Randgriz. Without them, it will be impossible to stop the Marmota only with the royal guard," she said nervously. The militia has done some amazing accomplishments, and all Cordellia could hope is that they could create another miracle to save Gallia.

The soldier nodded his head and ran out the doors, determined to get to the militia as quickly as possible. Back in the throne room, Cordellia sighed. The situation was degrading fast. There was no way the militia could make it back to Randgriz before Maximilian arrived, but she would stall him for as long as possible.

Borg looked over at the princess and smiled. She was staking it all on the militia. He knew they had accomplished some unbelievable things, but even they would be no match against a fully armed 'Battleship on Legs,' which was what the engineers liked to call the Marmota. He walked in front of Cordellia and bowed, pretending as though he cared for her as he spoke.

"Cordellia, why don't you head back to your room and get some rest. I'll handle any affairs that occur in the meantime."

Cordellia nodded and got up from her throne, and walked out of the throne room. She walked through the empty halls, the only sounds that could be heard came from her own footsteps echoing throughout the large hallways. She eventually came to her room and got inside. She removed her headdress, which concealed her biggest secret; her dark blue hair that branded her as a Darcsen and represented her family's dark past.

When the Valkyrur invaded the area where modern-day Gallia is located, they were unstoppable. None of the Darcsen knew how to combat the Valkyrur, and were quickly demolished by them. However, one Darcsen family betrayed their fellow people and leaked information about Darcsen weapons and battle tactics, as well as their leaders to the Valkyrur. The Valkyrur awarded this family by giving them reign of the area, but the family disguised themselves to look like the Valkyrur so the oppressed Darcsen would never know. Then the Valkyrur cast the blame of the destruction they caused on the oppressed Darcsens, which would create an era of Darcsen discrimination.

_I carry the sin that my ancestors committed. The sin that has caused massive discrimination to Darcsens, but all I can do is bear it. At least for now. If a miracle occurs and we win the war, then I'll reveal myself to the public. The citizens deserve the right to know what I truly am and I hope it will help ease discrimination against Darcsens._

She got into bed and closed her eyes, but her thoughts tormented her, so it took a while before she fell asleep. Even then, sometimes she wouldn't be able to escape from her thoughts, and she would have a nightmare. However, she would be able to escape from them for today.

***

Jaeger put the fire out and walked over to Selvaria, who was gazing up at the stars. He put a hand on her shoulder and yawned.

"Time to get some sleep Selvaria. We have a big day tomorrow. We'll have to find a way to talk to their leader, and convince them that we're not enemies anymore," he mentioned, his voice also sounding tired.

Selvaria looked over at him and she yawned as well. It was dark out and trying to get closer to the militia would only make them think that it was a surprise attack. This would be bad, because Selvaria wanted to help them, not harm them. She yawned again and gave into her fatigue, and walked back with Jaeger to the Lupus, where a makeshift sleeping bag was spread out on the floor. Jaeger was first for the night watch, so Selvaria slid into the sleeping bag. It felt very rough but she wasn't complaining, for it was keeping her warm in this cold night. She and Jaeger switched night watch duties every two hours, so she used the time to think about what she was going to do after the war.

_First off, I'll help Jaeger restore Fhirald's sovereignty, but what then? Well, I'll either find a home in Fhirald or find one in Gallia. I could always just stay in the military, but I want to try other things. I was raised to be a soldier through and through, and I never got to have human contact besides the scientists that would constantly be putting me through different tests. Those scientists wanted to find out how to awaken a Valkyur's power, and the tests were a trial-and-error process for them._

_The soldiers have always complimented my cooking whenever I did. They said things like 'It was delicious!' and 'Why don't you become a cook for the Emperor? H__e'd love your food.' When Fhirald is once again a stable nation__again, perhaps I'll be a cook and open a diner._

_But for now, I have to focus on the current conflict. Jaeger told me that Maximilian has been secretly developing a massive vehicle called the Marmota. I don't know how powerful it is, but if it's like the Batomys, then it'll be unbelievably powerful. We have to destroy it and Maximilian, or who knows what chaos will erupt?_

_**But will you be able to strike him down Selvaria? Could you strike down the man you secretly still love? You can deny it, but it won't make it fact.**_

Selvaria jolted for a second. She could have sworn she had just heard a voice. It sounded like hers, but it sounded more…evil. She shook her head and brushed a hand through her silver hair.

_I'm probably just tired, _was all she thought. Luckily for her, Jaeger had gotten up and told her to get some sleep. She slid back into the rough sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep.

***

The sun had risen, and the sound of a door opening could be heard as a maid walked into Maximilian's room and took out a little bell. The maid rang the bell and Maximilian's eyes slowly slid open, his body rising and sitting straight up as he rubbed his eyes for a moment. The maid bowed and laid his imperial outfit and armor out on the floor.

"Would you like to have your breakfast sent to the bridge as usual your grace?" she said softly, her voice having a little tone of nervousness to it. Maximilian nodded, and the maid bowed again and left the room. Maximilian walked to the bridge and sat in his seat, placing his elbow on the armrest, letting his head lay on the palm of his hand.

"How far are we from Randgriz?" he said groggily, still trying to fully wake up. One of the soldiers at the controls got up and bowed in front of Maximilian.

"Good morning your majesty**. **We are about a ten hour trip from Randgriz. We encountered a landslide last night, so we had to take a detour. Here is your radio communicator," the soldier reported, holding out a device in his hand. Maximilian smiled and grabbed the device, and held down the red button. The device in question was linked to a network of radios throughout the Marmota, so everyone on board could hear any announcement Maximilian made. He breathed in for a moment and spoke into the device.

"This is Prince Maximilian. All tank divisions are to report to their battle stations. The Marmota will be stopping in a minute. Once it's stopped, all tanks will leave the Marmota through the deployment hatches and head to Vassel bridge to set up a brigade, in case the militia come back before Gallia surrenders."

The Marmota's engines began to quiet down over the course of a few minutes, and then the juggernaut came to a halt. Five hatches on the rear of the Marmota opened up, and wave after wave of tanks began to pour out. About half of these tanks bore a certain symbol. This symbol was none other than Fhirald's old flag and these tanks used to be Jaeger's men, the soldiers of Fhirald.

After all the tanks had been deployed, the Marmota's engines roared once again, and it began to move slowly forward, and after a few minutes, it returned back to its normal speed. Maximilian got up out of his chair and went out onto the massive deck of the Marmota. He looked over at the deployed tank battalion, and thought to himself.

_The tanks have a large distance to cover, but luckily for Us, once they escape the forest area, the terrain will be downhill, so they'll be able to gain speed going down the hills towards Vassel._

Satisfied with how events were turning out, Maximilian stepped back inside of the Marmota, and returned to the bridge.

***

The militia has resumed its march back to Randgriz, but little did they know they would have some very unexpected guests arriving that day. Varrot was sitting in a Gallian APC when her body fell forward as the vehicle suddenly stopped, her paperwork scattering across the floor in the process. She opened the rear hatch of the vehicle and stepped outside. Gallian troops were running every which way, grabbing their guns and lances. Amidst this chaos Varrot managed to find Largo, who was loading his lance with several rounds of ammo.

"What is going on Largo?" she shouted, sounding as forceful and demanding as she could. Among the possible scenarios that could have happened, Largo just had to have said the worst.

"The Empire's Valkyria has been spotted in front of our force!" he shouted back, only paying about half attention to what she was saying. Of all the Empire's units that had to come, it had to have been the Valkyria.

"Where is the rest of Squad 7?" she said, calming herself a little. Getting angry was not going to make this situation any better. She had nearly killed an imperial count in her anger, but it was thanks to Largo that she didn't, or she would probably be in a jail cell right now.

"The boss and Alicia are over there somewhere, trying to get Squad 7 together. I came over here because there was no more lance ammunition where I was before." Largo said as he snapped the spearhead back onto the shaft, and ran off towards where he had pointed before, Varrot running right beside him.

Selvaria and Jaeger both expected this to happen. After all, Selvaria did annihilate a large portion of Gallia's army at Naggiar, so naturally they'd try to kill her on sight. She was standing on top of a hill, wielding her Valkyrian spear and shield. However, the spear was lodged into the dirt so that it was standing vertically from the ground, and she was still holding the top. She was planning on just sitting there, letting all the Gallian bullets and missiles hit her, for they couldn't damage her anyway. The Valkyria's flame that surrounded their bodies granted invincibility to all weaponry except any weapons that have tremendous power. Essentially, only Gallia's Valkyria could damage her.

_I hope they are intelligent enough to realize I'm not attacking them. I have to show them I'm not an enemy. If they stop attacking, then Jaeger will wave the white flag he made out of those documents in the Lupus. If they don't stop attacking, or their Valkyria appears, we'll retreat. We'd just have to defeat Maximilian alone then._

_**Defeat him? Hah. You will freeze on the spot when you try to kill him and you know it.**_

Selvaria looked around quickly to her sides and rear. There was no one close to her, but yet, she still heard that voice, despite it being hard to hear because of all the bullets whistling past her face or reflecting off of the blue flame and hitting the ground. She was lost in thought for a second before she realized that a Gallian tank had opened fired on her. Her shield began to spin and she raised it just before the tank shell reached her, which caused the tank shell to reflect off its metallic blue surface and into the sky, where it exploded harmlessly.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the tank that fired on her was the tank that Squad 7's commander drove at Ghirlandaio. Ironically, it was the same one that also fired at her during the battle of Barious, where she first got to demonstrate her Valkyrian powers to the Gallian militia.

Welkin knew that the tank shell would be useless, but he attempted it since the Valkyria looked like she wasn't paying attention. He took a quick look over at Alicia, and raised an eyebrow when he saw her confused expression. Alicia looked at him and was just about to say something, but Welkin knew what she was about to say.

"Why hasn't she attacked us yet? She's just standing there, and her spear's even lodged into the ground," Welkin questioned. Alicia closed her mouth and nodded in agreement. If Selvaria wanted to destroy Gallia's militia, she could have easily just charged right at them and slaughtered them within minutes. However, she was just standing there, letting bullets and tanks shells blow up aimlessly against that blue fire of hers.

"Kreiss, hand me the radio speaker," Welkin commanded, climbing down into the Edelweiss. Kreiss picked up the radio speaker and put it in Welkin's hand and then Welkin climbed back up. He brushed the speaker a bit, and then spoke into it.

"Varrot, tell the militia to cease-fire. The Valkyria's not attacking us, so I doubt that she came her to kill us," he said. A couple seconds later, Varrot's voice could be heard.

"I was thinking something like that, but I wasn't too sure. Alright, I'll tell the men to cease-fire, but if that Valkyria raises her lance then we'll be attacking her again," she said, sounding very cautious of the matter. After all, it could be a trap. A few seconds later, Varrot's voice was heard on the open channel telling all units to temporarily cease-fire. The soldiers shot some more bullets, but they slowly lowered their guns, still having them at their waist so they could easily bring them back up and fire again.

Selvaria noticed that the Gallians had stopped firing, which meant that they had realized that she doesn't want to kill them. As if to back up her affirmation that she wasn't going to attack, she let go of her lance and walked about a few meters away from it, trying to show the Gallians that she meant no harm.

Two minutes passed in eerie silence, which was Jaeger's cue. The Lupus drove to the top of the hill and stopped. In response, the militia's anti-tank personnel had their lances raised and aimed at the Lupus. The Lupus's hatch opened, and Jaeger stepped out, and began waving the white flag that was made out of the documents that stated Fhirald's sovereignty would be restored by Maximilian, for he wouldn't be needing them anymore.

The sound of gasps and confusion could be heard from Gallia's militia as they were trying to grasp what had just happened. Varrot stepped forward a bit and put on a headset so she could be heard by Selvaria and Jaeger.

"If you are surrendering, then throw down all your equipment, put your hands into the air and revert back to your normal state Valkyria!" she demanded. Selvaria and Jaeger followed her wishes and Selvaria put her shield down, as well as dispersing the blue flame. Jaeger reached into his coat and placed his small handgun on the ground then raised his hands into the air, with Selvaria following right after.

Varrot spoke into her radio a few times, and then several soldiers, as well as the Edelweiss and Alicia, slowly moved forward, still cautious of the two Imperials.

They reached the top of the hill quickly and two Gallian soldiers walked over to the two former Triumvitri and placed handcuffs on them.

Before she was taken to one of the prisoner cell vehicles, Selvaria looked over at Alicia for a second.

"Valkyria…I have a new cause for which my life shall serve. That is, only if your commander would like our assistance," Selvaria softly said, as she and Jaeger were taken away to the prison vehicles, leaving behind a shocked and somewhat excited Alicia. Selvaria smiled, for their plan had worked. Now, she would have to wait until the commander of the militia forces speaks to her.

Selvaria was placed in a small room, almost feeling like a cage to her. Jaeger had been taken to a different vehicle, his room equally as small. The only thing in the room was a bed. There was nothing else she could do, so she laid down on the hard mattress, and stared at the ceiling. In a few minutes. she had dozed off. Jaeger on the other hand, tore off pieces of his white flag, and played catch with one of Fhirald's captured soldiers, who happened to be in the cell directly across from his. Every so often, they would stop and talk about many things, such as the past and the future.

Although Selvaria was sound asleep, another force was still awake within her.

_**Hmm…Now that she's with these Gallian fools, I'll have to try and overpower her consciousness when she lets her guard down. Then I'll have this body. She thought she could just betray his Grace like that? Once I have this body, I'll start by eradicating these pathetic insects that call themselves soldiers, then I'll return to his Grace. I serve him and him alone and I'll get everything back to normal.**_

Selvaria was quickly taken away from her pleas**a**nt dream due to a Gallian soldier hitting one of the bars of her cell with a metal baton. She felt his gaze underneath that helmet he was wearing. Once he saw she was awake, he put the baton away.

"Commander Varrot wishes to talk to you and your comrade. For security measures, you'll be escorted by Squad 7 and they'll be fully armed, so don't try anything stupid," he gruffed, his helmet muffling his voice a little. He pointed to the rear hatch of the vehicle, and she walked towards it. The soldier had taken his handgun out and was aiming it directly at Selvaria's head, ready to shoot if she attacked.

Interested in what mobile Gallian prisons looked like, she turned her back and gazed at the vehicle she had come from. The vehicle was big, no doubt about that. Selvaria would have guessed that it was a big as a house. It moved on tank treads and looked like it was an over-sized Gallian APC. However, the only weapons it had were two mounted machine guns at the back, presumably to prevent anyone from attacking the radiator.

When she had turned her head back, the different members of Squad 7 were standing there, all equipped like they were about to go into a large battle.

_It can't be helped if they don't trust me and Jaeger yet. We'll just have to win their trust over time. Before he got himself killed in Fouzen, Gregor always said that actions speak louder than words. It was due to those words that I always asked Maximilian_ _to deploy me on a mission, for I wanted to show my worth to him through winning battles._

Silence filled the air as she was escorted, although she would look at some of the members of Squad 7 whenever she could. She looked up and saw a very large tent up ahead, which was most likely commander Varrot's tent that the soldier mentioned. With fierce determination in her eyes, she opened the flap of the tent and walked inside. Jaeger was sitting in a chair and was leaning against the wall, because it always made him feel cosier. On the other side of the room were multiple armed soldiers, as well as a woman sitting at a desk.

Her elbows were resting on the desk, her arms bent upward and her hands folded together, making a small arch that her head was resting on. She had black hair and wore glasses, which were reflecting light off of them. The woman was staring at Selvaria, as if trying to analyze everything about her. After a few moments, she unfolded her hands and adjusted her glasses.

"Sit down over there. We'll hear what you have to say. Not to mention you should feel lucky. All the commanders simply wanted to execute you two, but Sergeant Alicia Melchiott told them to at least listen to you two. They agreed, since they owed her a debt for her actions at Naggiar," Varrot commanded, putting up her usual demanding and stubborn tone in her voice.

Alicia Melchiott. So that was the name of Gallia's Valkyria. If everything goes as planned, she would go and thank Alicia later for convincing the higher ups. Selvaria walked over and sat down next to Jaeger. She would convince them, even if she didn't earn their trust at first, she would convince them. After all, the Marmota could be busting through the gates of Randgriz at any point.

----------------------------------------------

Her 'other' self, as I call it, is her past, and as they say, it is hard to forget the past, and it may even come back to be your worst nightmare…

But, asides from that, will Selvaria and Jaeger be accepted into the ranks of the militia?

Will Selvaria's other consciousness overpower her?

Who knows…wait…I do. Well, you'll all find out in future chapters ^_^


	5. Interrogation and Friendship

Sorry for the late update, but school and a few other video games have been keeping me occupied.

I also hope that the DLC for Valkyria Chronicles comes out soon.

Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed, as well as Huhn, who proof-read this chapter!

Now lets get to it! Enjoy!

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Silence covered the room, nothing making a noise for a few minutes. Despite her curiosity Selvaria remained quiet, for she didn't want Varrot to get angry by asking an unnecessary question. All of the Gallian soldiers in the room were equipped with guns, and were all ready to shoot if something occurred.

Selvaria waited patiently for a few more minutes until the flap of the tent opened, revealing what they had been waiting for. Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott stepped into the tent, followed by Largo, Rosie, and Zaka. They all took seats near Varrot.

Though she was good at hiding her emotions from people when she needed to, she felt a small amount of sweat roll down the back of her neck. Having this many people in the room equipped with weapons made her feel like she was at an execution site, with her as the accused.

Varrot adjusted her glasses a bit and looked straight at Selvaria.

"Before we begin, I would like to know exactly how you escaped from General Damon's forces. Without your Valkyrian Lance, you would never be able to escape from a whole army, unless you were unbelievably lucky," Varrot said, her eyes trying to read Selvaria's mind.

Selvaria opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Jaeger.

"I'll explain that, if you don't mind Selvaria," he said. Selvaria nodded and held back the urge to laugh, for Jaeger looked like he had just woken up and his hair was a little messed up.

Jaeger rubbed one of his eyes for a second and continued. "At Naggiar, Selvaria was defeated by Gallia's Valkyria and her lance and shield were lost during the confusion of the aftermath. While Gallia was attacking Ghirlandaio, I went back to Naggiar and made a search team to find them. We found them and came back to Ghirlandaio, where Gallia had beaten Selvaria. I stole a uniform and pretended to be a Gallian soldier, hiding the lance and shield under my clothes," he explained, sounding as serious as he could be.

Varrot raised an eyebrow, wondering how a Valkyrian Lance and Shield could fit underneath a soldier's uniform. After a few seconds she decided not to question it, thinking thathe must have worn a lancer's uniform.

Varrot looked at Jaeger and nodded, which told Jaeger to continue.

"The uniform I stole was from one of the prison guards, so Damon gave me the keys to Selvaria's cell and told me to watch her. I released her and she agreed to come with me. She blasted a hole through the wall and we escaped in the Lupus." He finished and looked at Varrot, without any expression on his face.

Silence covered the room again for several minutes as Varrot thought to herself. There were still a few things she needed to know, so she opened her eyes and looked at Jaeger.

"What do you stand to gain from joining us? Why go that far to help Selvaria?" she questioned. Jaeger tilted his chair back so that his head was resting on the wall behind him, and smiled.

"My home country of Fhirald was attacked and taken over during the first Europan war, much like how Gallia is being attacked at the moment. However, Fhirald lost and its people became slaves to the Empire. There's no way that Fhirald could rebel against the Empire and win without help. Selvaria agreed to come with me after this war is over, to help Fhirald regain its sovereignty," he explained, his voice trailing off a bit at the end.

Varrot stared at Jaeger for a few more seconds before turning her attention to Selvaria.

"And what convinced you to help him?" she questioned. Selvaria looked over at Jaeger for a second, who had fallen asleep in his chair. She turned her head back and took a deep breath in.

"Jaeger showed me some documents that revealed Maximilian's real personality to me. Maximilian finds people with amazing talent and uses them until their usefulness runs out. Then…he disposes of them. I almost fell for his trick as well. I would most likely be dead if it were not for Jaeger and for that, I owe him a debt," Selvaria said, her voice sounding sad. She knew what could have happened if Jaeger hadn't showed her what Maximilian was really like.

Small whispers could be heard amongst the soldiers in the room as Varrot sat still, thinking to herself. After a minute, she got out of her chair and walked up to Welkin, Alicia, Largo, Rosie and Zaka and whispered something in their ears. All of them left the tent except Varrot, who looked over at the Gallian soldiers, then at Selvaria and Jaeger.

"We'll discuss whether we should allow you to work with us or not. Until then these soldiers will be making sure you two don't leave the tent. If you leave the tent, we will consider it as a hostile act and you will be put back into jail. However you may talk to the soldiers, if they want to talk. If you do join us, then you two will be in Squad 7. It just so happens that these soldiers are from Squad 7, so you may want to get to know them," Varrot said as she raised the tent flap, going after Welkin and the others.

Selvaria let out a big sigh as she leaned back against her chair. That was one of the few times she had ever gotten nervous. She heard footsteps coming from the other side of the tent and looked up, seeing two men and a woman standing a meter away from her and Jaeger. Jaeger seemed to have noticed them as well, for he brought his chair forward and sat straight, eyeing the Squad 7 members in front of him.

"You shouldn't be nervous. Varrot may seem frightening but she'll most likely persuade the higher ups to give you two the chance to prove yourselves. Of course you'll most likely be kept under watch until you've proven yourselves," the man with the eyepatch said, his voice sounding cheery and reassuring. "Anyways, my name is Vyse, the big guy next to me is Jann and the girl to my right is Juno," he said, pointing at them.

Selvaria took the moment to look at the three of them. Vyse was somewhat tall, with black hair and an eyepatch covering his left eye. Selvaria noticed that unlike most eyepatches, his had a glass circle attached to it, allowing him to see out of his left eye. Selvaria was a bit confused, but she thought that he must wear it because it was comfortable.

Jann was pretty tall, having light brown hair and a very muscular body. Selvaria raised her eyebrow in confusion when she saw that he was wearing what looked like lipstick. It wasn't very noticeable but Selvaria had never seen a man wearing it before.

Juno was shorter than her two companions. She wore glasses and had somewhat blonde hair. Selvaria felt a chill down her spine because Juno looked like one of the scientists that were studying her when she was still young.

"Don't worry honey," Jann said in a very happy and reassuring voice. "Welkin, Alicia and the amazing Largo wouldn't agree to jailing you two." Selvaria noted how he emphasized the words 'amazing' and 'Largo' when he spoke. Nevertheless, Selvaria nodded in appreciation for his friendly words.

"Now that you know who we are, would you be so kind as to introduce yourselves as well?" Juno asked, her voice sounding very serious, as if she were talking to a commander.

A noise was heard from Jaeger's direction and all four of them looked over to see him getting of his chair.

"My name is Radi Jaeger. I used to be head of Maximilian's tank divisions and now I hope to be one of Gallia's tank commanders." He held out his hand and the three members of Squad 7 shook it.

Selvaria stood up after Jaeger went quiet and introduced herself as well.

"My name is Selvaria Bles. I…was the Valkyria that you fought at Barious and Naggiar." Selvaria said, holding out her hand for the other three to shake. "I…was the one who killed many Gallian soldiers…" She finished, her voice becoming depressed.

"That may be true and many people may hate you, but I think that everyone deserves a second chance," Vyse said, patting her on her shoulder to encourage her.

"If you truly mean what you say, then you can redeem yourself by helping restore Gallia's peace," Juno said. Selvaria smiled and nodded.

Even though it was just these three, she had a strange feeling that Squad 7 will be quite the…unique bunch.

**Unique? More like foolish. Squad 7 would never stand a chance against Maximilian. They would be gutted like the dogs they are!**

Selvaria looked from side to side quickly, but there was only her, Jaeger, Vyse, Juno, Jann and the Gallian soldiers with their guns. She had no idea where that voice was coming from but she wanted it to stop.

"Is something the matter?" Jann questioned. Selvaria looked back at him and shook her head. The five of them talked for a few minutes before the tent flap was heard and Varrot stepped back in. Welkin and the others followed right behind her and sat down. Jann, Vyse and Juno walked back over and sat down as well.

"We've come to a decision," Varrot said.

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Yeah Yeah, it's shorter than my other ones, but I thought to cut it off here to make a good cliffhanger.

In compensation for uploading this chapter very late, tell me what 3 members of Squad 7 you'd like to see in the next chapter.

Hopefully I'll get the next chapter done before April. R&R!


	6. Deep Discussions

Damn, these months have been hectic. I know, I have a lot of explaining to do, but things have been going hectic for a while. Though now that it's Summer break, Expect me to update more often now.

Also, I've decided to include something from Selvaria's DLC in this fanfic as well.

Speaking of DLC, they've announced that a new DLC is coming out apparently.

Hyrushoten: Thanks for the tips, I'll check out that book when I get the chance, though it is hard breaking out of old writing habits. Though I will try in the future.

Shanedude: You're pretty close the end of the game. In terms of how far this fanfic has gone, I've yet to reach chapter 16, so you have a lot of time to finish the game. If you don't mind the slightest spoilers, then feel free to read, but It's up to you.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews and continued support everyone!

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and its characters are owned by SEGA.

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Silence fell over the room as Selvaria awaited Varrot's answer. The silence continued for a few seconds before it was broken.

"We have decided to test both of you before you may join. One of our scouts returned a minute ago and told us that a battalion of imperial soldiers has set up camp right in our path. We would waste time if we went around them, so we'll destroy them and continue to Randgriz**,**" Varrot said.

"I understand," Selvaria replied, nodding her head as well. Varrot gazed over at Jaeger, who simply gave her a small nod.

"We cannot trust you yet, so your lance and shield will remain locked up in a hidden location until we can. Until then, you may use any of our guns, or any of your own that you may have," she said. Selvaria nodded again and Varrot fixed her gaze on Jaeger. "You may use your tank, but our engineers are installing a device that allows us to render it useless if you betray us. You will also be assigned a tank pilot later, so come find me when you receive the message," she concluded, falling silent again.

Jaeger stood up and smiled. "Very well, I understand Captain," he said, raising his right hand and saluting Varrot. Selvaria repeated Jaeger's actions. Varrot was about to say something but Alicia leaned close and whispered something in her ear. When she was done, Varrot leaned close to Welkin and said something into his ear. He nodded a second later and Varrot looked back at Selvaria and Jaeger.

"The two of you will be placed in Squad 7. They are the militia's finest soldiers and have won many battles. This is your squad leader Welkin Gunther," she said, pointing at Welkin. "And this is Alicia Melchiott," she concluded by pointing at Alicia.

Jaeger raised an eyebrow when Varrot mentioned Welkin Gunther, though he didn't say anything. Welkin and Alicia put out their hands and exchanged hand-shakes with the two ex-imperials as introductions were made. Varrot coughed to get their attention.

"We'll be packing up in five minutes, then continue our return to Randgriz. Use this time to get your things ready. You can chat when we begin moving again. You're all dismissed," she said, walking out of the tent, followed by everyone inside.

******

Some cattle were busy eating the grass when the ground began to shake, scattering them within seconds as the Marmota's hull crushed the spot where they had once been. The massive dreadnaught plowed through the forest with ease as it crawled ever closer to its target: Randgriz.

Up on the dreadnaught's decks was Maximilian, gazing into the sea of trees.

_Even though the majority of their army has been crushed, they continue to resist. Their traps and tactics have become quite bothersome. We have had to go around multiple canyons due to massive rockslides and go through large pits that have impeded the Marmota's speed._

Maximilian walked back inside and sat in his chair. "How much longer until we reach Randgriz, assuming there are no more traps?" he commanded. A soldier quickly ran over to him and bowed.

"We have lost some time. It will take us another day to get to Randgriz at this rate," he said and walked back to his station. Maximilian's frown quickly became a scowl.

"It does not matter how long it takes, for they cannot destroy the Marmota with their pathetic weaponry and cheap tactics. This dreadnaught was built to withstand anything Gallia or the Federation possess," he said proudly.

"What about Gallia's war-witch?" one of the soldiers said. Maximilian turned to the man, who looked frightened. "I'm sorry for my impudence your Grace," he apologized.

Maximilian laughed. "The Marmota's armor is made from a special material that is incredibly durable against a Valkyria's attacks. However, it wouldn't be impossible for her to damage us," he explained. The soldier nodded.

"What about the final flame?" the soldier asked. Maximilian remained silent for a moment.

"If the final flame were to be used, there is an eight-five percent chance the Marmota would be destroyed, which is why we must destroy Gallia's war-witch before she attempts such an act," he explained.

The whole bridge fell silent as the Marmota continued to move forward.

******

All of her things were in the Lupus, so Selvaria walked over to Welkin to ask him a few questions.

"Excuse me Lieutenant Gunther, but do you know what happened to the gun I used at Ghirlandaio?" she asked. Welkin flinched for a second from being surprised, but calmed down quickly and turned to face her.

"Woah, I didn't notice you there. You're as stealthy as a dragonfly!" he said merrily. Selvaria raised an eyebrow and put on a confused look. She didn't know if she should be insulted or flattered.

"A…dragonfly?" she questioned, completely dumbfounded. Welkin raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know? Dragonflies shadow their enemies in complex, quick maneuvers. Their tricks create the visual illusion that they're not moving, so their opponent becomes confused. But by the time they realize that the dragonfly is behind them it'll be too late," he explained.

Selvaria opened her mouth for a second, but just sighed. She glanced over to her left and noticed Alicia was standing next to them shaking her head.

"It's Welkin's way of complimenting you. He's said things like that to me many times," she said, chuckling a bit. Selvaria couldn't help but smile.

"I can tell chatting with him will be…interesting," Selvaria said. Alicia nodded in agreement. "By the way Alicia, could I talk to you?" Selvaria asked.

"Sure," she replied. The two of them walked to Alicia's tent and sat down in chairs across from each other. "Before you say anything, I need to give you something," Alicia said. She ruffled through one of her bags**,** pulled out a large case and handed it to her. Selvaria opened up the top to reveal none other than the Ruhm, leaving her shocked.

"I managed to grab it before any of Damon's soldiers could. Varrot has agreed to let you use it." Alicia finished. Selvaria smiled and nodded in thanks. A moment later, her expression became more serious.

"I heard that you convinced the higher ups to at least here us out. For that, I have to thank you. You've given me the chance to redeem my bloodshed name, even if only a little. I used my powers to destroy thousands of Gallian's lives at Naggiar, but now I will fight to end this destructive war," she said.

_**Nonsense. The power of the Valkyur is absolute destruction. They're only good for war and destruction. Even if you end this war, more will follow and you **_**and every**_** other living Valkyria will be dragged into it because of your almighty power; the power to end lives as easily as a natural disaster can destroy buildings. You are goddesses in comparison to the puny, mortal trash on the battlefield. Who wouldn't want to have a Valkyur on their side?**_

_**The Valkyur go around wreaking destruction in their wake. Now tell me; how can you use the power of destruction to save people? No matter what side you work for, you'll bring ultimate destruction to **_**their**_** enemy. So I suggest going back to his handsome Prince Maximillian where he'll treat you real good and not like some witch.**_

Selvaria clutched her head and shook it from side to side, trying to get the voice to stop.

_**Your fate is to destroy and kill. You'll find out very soon. Until then…**_

Selvaria let go of her head as the voice faded from her head. Alicia was looking at her in confusion. "Sorry about that, I got a sudden headache," she said. Alicia raised her eyebrow further.

"A sudden headache? I didn't think people could get one like that so suddenly," she replied. Alicia's expression changed into a depressed look.

"I can understand the situation you're in. I quickly spoke to Jaeger before and he had told me that Maximillian wanted you to use some super technique of the Valkyur to kill yourself and wipe out the entire Gallian army and all because I defeated you at Naggiar. Not only that, but I also killed thousands of imperial soldiers while I was unconscious." She finished. Selvaria also had a depressed look on her face as well.

"Sometimes…I think that all a Valkyria is good for is to kill. Someone asked me what a Valkyria's power could do besides kill. In that moment, I realized that I didn't know." She said. Alicia remained silent for a second.

"I don't know either. I think that person may have been right. Maybe we're only good for destruction." She replied. The room fell silent before Alicia broke the silence. "Enough with this depressing conversation. Jaeger wanted to talk to you when you're done. He's in Squad 7's mobile tank hangar." She finished. Selvaria nodded and got up. She strapped Ruhm onto her waist and walked out of the tent, nodding to Alicia as she left.

When she got to the tank hangar, she noticed someone touching the Edelweiss. She was going to go introduce herself to him but as she drew near him, she heard him whisper something.

"Who's a sexy tank? Yes you are Edelweiss. You are one sexy tank."

Selvaria immediately turned around and headed straight for the Lupus.

_I'll… introduce myself later. Yeah, later._

----------------------

And we reach the end of the 6th chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.

And I'm just reminding you guys, I plan to finish this story to the end. If I dissapear for a large period of time, it always means that something big is happening in my life.

Until next time I update then.


	7. Proving One's Worth

Not much to comment on right now. Have any of you heard about the new DLC that's coming out for Valkyria Chronicles? I think it's called 'Battle Challenge' or something like that, as well as VC 2...on the PSP. Anyways, on to chapter 7!

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and all of its characters belong to SEGA.

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Cordellia was sitting on her throne, nervously eating the cinnamon rolls the cooks made for her. Deep down, she had this feeling of dread that everything would go wrong with Maiden's Shield. The doors to the throne room creaked open and a soldier walked in.

"Your Highness," he said, bowing in front of her. "As you instructed, we have been delaying the giant vehicle by creating rockslides in its path."

Cordellia finished her roll and looked at the guard.

"Very well. I sent a messenger to the militia instructing them to head for that giant vehicle. Operation Maiden's Shield will begin as soon as the militia rendezvous with the royal forces," she said. The soldier left the throne room.

"I just pray that we can stall that massive tank long enough for Lieutenant Gunther to catch up to it," she muttered before telling one of her guards to bring her another cinnamon roll.

***

"These Gallians are getting on Our nerves. We're being delayed too much because of these rockslides!" Maximillian shouted. "We are getting impatient. Unfortunately, my wretched father didn't give the engineers the funding to mount a cannon on the Marmota so we could do away with annoyances like this," he hissed.

He stormed out of the room furiously and walked through the Marmota until he reached the deck, where the wind breezed past him.

_Soon, the Valkof will be Ours. Then I will use it and the artificial Valkyrian weapons to usurp my father and claim all of Europa…no, the entire world as my own! All shall see the might of the new Empire We shall create!_

Maximillian smiled to himself as he walked back inside, envisioning his new world.

***

Jaeger was leaning next to his tank when Selvaria arrived.

"Varrot filled me in on our mission. A giant 'battleship on legs,' as they call it, has been spotted heading northwest to Randgriz. The militia has been charged with destroying, or disarming this vehicle by any means necessary," he said. Selvaria nodded.

"That vehicle must be the Marmota, right? The vehicle that only a Valkyria could hope to damage?" she questioned. Jaeger nodded.

"The only problem is the Marmota has a lot of escorts that prevent the militia from getting close. We've been tasked to divert these troops away from the Marmota so that the militia can begin operation Maiden's Shield," he explained.

"Just us two? So we're the militia's disposable pawns," Selvaria said.

"What do you expect? We've both killed hundreds of Gallian soldiers. They're not going to trust us with a large scale operation," he said. That's when Selvaria noticed he was smirking.

"And what's so funny?" she asked. Jaeger laughed for a second.

"However, our job is to divert them, but what if we defeated them all? Gallia's higher ups would have no choice but to recognize our usefulness," he concluded. Selvaria smirked as well. For the next few minutes, both of them discussed their battle plans how they were going to defeat over a hundred soldiers and the many tanks with just the two of them.

"That might just work," Jaeger said, looking at the map that Varrot gave him for the upcoming mission. The map detailed the area where they would have to divert the enemy, and where to lure them. Jaeger folded up the map and climbed on top of his tank. "Let's get going so we can get ready," he said. The pair of them got into the Lupus. Its engine roared as it charged out of the tank bunker into the wilderness of the Kloden Wildwood.

Varrot noticed them leave and turned on her radio. She set the frequency so the entire militia would hear her.

"All troops, Maiden's Shield will begin as soon as Selvaria and Jaeger have diverted the enemy. Head to the operation site!" she commanded as soldiers grabbed their gear and began to line up for battle.

*****

Selvaria peeked over the edge of the hill she and Jaeger were hiding behind and saw rows of imperial soldiers and tanks.

"Based on what I see, there're at least ten tank destroyers in there along with a Dromedarius. The other tanks are just standard ones," she said. Jaeger smiled.

"Ten tank destroyers huh? This will be interesting." He chuckled and got onto the Lupus.

"I'll fire a flare once we've reached the target point," he said. Selvaria nodded and lay down in the soft grass next to her. She aimed at an object in the distance as the Lupus's engine roared and it headed off towards the enemy.

****

The captain of the Marmota's escort was reading a book when his tank came to a complete halt. He got out and shouted at one of the soldiers.

"What is going on? Maximilian will kill us if we don't reach the remnants of Gallia's army in time!" The soldier didn't respond. He rose a finger at an object coming towards them; the Lupus. The captain's eyes grew wide as he took out his radio.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but tell Maximilian that Jaeger has come back. Thanks," he said, putting his radio on his hip. A few seconds later, his friend spoke.

"Maximilian says to tell him to join you. He'll help you in your fight against the Gallian army. Then, Jaeger is to come to Randgriz for an explanation." It was about a minute before the Lupus came to a complete stop and Jaeger got out.

"Nice to see you Jaeger. I was worried you had abandoned the Empire," the captain said.

"With my county's fate on the line? Never. I had to do a reconnaissance mission at Barius. Emperor's orders," Jaeger explained. The captain raised an eyebrow.

"I will not question you; Maximilian will do that. However, he has ordered you to join with us. We'll be heading north to finish off whatever remains of the Gallian army that has been on route to Randgriz," he replied. Jaeger nodded and got back into the Lupus.

****

Selvaria saw the imperial soldiers flooding through the valley in front of her and got ready to pull the trigger. She heard a loud bang and saw a flare rise up into the sky, imperial soldiers running every which direction in confusion. She pulled the trigger. The bullets went flying across the valley and hit their target: a ragnite bomb disguised as a boulder.

The bomb exploded, causing the nearby cliff to crumble and crush all the tanks and nearly three-quarters of the troops. Selvaria got up began shooting at any soldier that had avoided the rockslide, blood flying everywhere as soldier's screams filled the air. The Lupus's cannon turned around and fired a mortar into a cluster of shocktroopers, blowing their bodies in all directions.

Selvaria quickly killed many of the confused soldiers before she ran out of ammo and had to reload. She noticed a soldier was about to shoot her so she dropped the Ruhm and cut the guy's arm off with her sword before sliding back to her gun and crouching behind a boulder, bullets zooming past her face. One of the soldiers ran over and threw a grenade over the boulder, but she rolled to the left and shot him in the chest. The grenade explosion blew several pieces of shrapnel through the air and nicked Selvaria across the cheek and left arm. She looked around, but all of the soldiers near her were dead, so she ran off to meet up with Jaeger.

"Kill the traitor!" the captain shouted. Whatever lancers survived opened fire on the Lupus. The Lupus fired its machine gun at the rockets and managed to divert most of the rockets, but two of them smashed into it, dealing light damage to the treads and the main body. Jaeger countered by firing a mortar at them, sending the lancers flying. Jaeger changed to the machine gun and fired before they could get up, killing them one by one until they were wiped out. He then looked out the tank's scope*, but the captain wasn't there.

"What the?" He muttered before he heard something walking on top of the Lupus.

"Die, you traitor!" the captain shouted as he lifted up the lid of the Lupus, preparing to throw a grenade in. Jaeger took out a handgun to try and shoot him but then heard a loud bang. The captain stood there motionless before falling off the Lupus, the grenade exploding harmlessly. Jaeger got out and saw Selvaria reloading the Ruhm and laughed.

"Nice shot," he chuckled. Selvaria smiled a bit before looking at all the soldiers she had killed.

**Even when you don't have your Valkyria powers, you're still a ruthless killing machine, huh?**

"Shut up!" She yelled at the sky. The voice faded away, but Jaeger was looking at her strangely. "Sorry," she apologized. Jaeger just shrugged.

"What the? What happened here?" a familiar voice said. It was none other than Varrot, staring in awe at the bloody and corpse-ridden valley.

"We diverted them just as you asked. However, they fell right into our trap we made before we left." Jaeger explained. Varrot stood there and smirked a little.

"Well, I am impressed. I came to check on your progress, but since you have completed your mission, I am here to give new orders. You'll be helping Squad 7 in operation Maiden's Shield. One of the rockslides caused by the royal army has diverted the Marmota, so we'll have an extra twenty minutes before it arrives to the operation site.

****

When Jaeger and Selvaria had arrived at the operation site, Zaka walked up to them.

"So how was the ragnite bomb that you wanted?" he asked. Jaeger smiled and patted Zaka on the back.

"It was perfect," he said.

"Yes, it was. Thank you." Selvaria said. Zaka nodded and smiled. The three of them walked over to the makeshift tent where Squad 7 was assembled. Varrot stood at the front of the room.

"In ten minutes, we'll commence operation Maiden's Shield. I'll begin the briefing.

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*-I don't know how tank drivers see out the tank. If anyone knows how they do, please tell me for future chapters.

I was going to include some of Squad 7 in this chapter, but I'm saving that for next time.

Next up: Operation Maiden's Shield. There will definitely be a twist, that's for sure.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	8. The Crimson Flame

Thanks for the R&R once again. Now on to operation Maiden's Shield!

I would also like to say that I'll be altering the game's events a bit. By that I mean take a few scenes that happen earlier and stick them in somewhere later.

X00001&Military Brat: Thanks for the info!

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and its characters are property of SEGA.

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Everyone was silent as Varrot took out a stick and pointed it at the map on the wall.

"Our objective is to stop the Marmota. Due to some information from a captured Imperial soldier, we have learned that the Marmota's hull is impervious to nearly all kinds of weaponry. The only way we can damage it is if we use a lot of explosives. The Royal Guard has set up a huge minefield in a valley southeast of here and has lined it with tanks. Our hope is that the mines will damage the Marmota's engines and the tanks will be able to bombard it until its hull breaks," Varrot explained, pointing the stick at a valley near the bottom of the map.

"To that end we'll need to get the Marmota to come to that valley. Scattered around this area are ragnite bombs. Lieutenant Gunther has volunteered to lead a small group through the valley and detonate these bombs. If anyone would like to volunteer then they'll be part of the detonation squad. Everyone else will be waiting on a hill nearby the Royal Guard to provide support," she continued and pointed at the hill. "Please see Welkin if you want to volunteer. Only a few can go, so please volunteer quickly. The Marmota will be here in less than five minutes. All forces not volunteering for the detonation squad are to move south to the hill immediately," she concluded and put the stick away. Selvaria was about to get up when Varrot approached her.

"Can I talk to you two in private?" she asked. Selvaria nodded and got up, with Jaeger following. Varrot led them to an empty tent and shifted her glasses a bit.

"I have told the higher ups what you accomplished. They were impressed by your achievements. Selvaria, your new orders are to accompany Welkin as part of the detonation squad. Jaeger, you will be stationed on the hill. We already have two tanks in the detonation squad, so you'll be better suited to provide cover," Varrot said.

"Yes Commander," Selvaria responded while Jaeger simply nodded, turned around and left the tent to get the Lupus. Once he left, Varrot spoke again.

"Jaeger told me that the Marmota can be damaged by a Valkyrur's power. The higher ups have given you and Alicia secret orders. If Maiden's Shield fails, then you'll get your Valkyrian weapons and use them to destroy the Marmota. Welkin has them in the Edelweiss. Now get yourself ready for battle," she concluded.

Selvaria nodded and left the tent and ran off to get ready.

***

The ground shook as the Marmota turned a corner, its engines roaring as it stopped abruptly.

"Why have we stopped?" Maximilian demanded as he came into the bridge and sat in his throne.

"Sir, Gallia's militia has been spotted ahead!" a soldier shouted. Maximilian's expression turned sour.

"What? I thought the soldiers We sent out earlier eradicated those peasants?" he declared furiously. One of the soldiers noticed something and pointed through the window.

"Isn't that General Bles your grace?" he asked. Maximilian's eyes opened wide when he heard that name. He got up and walked over to the window. His face became a scowl as he saw Selvaria in the ranks of the Gallian militia.

"So, that witch has betrayed Us. Now Gallia possesses two Valkyrur witches. However, even they are powerless against the Marmota. Full speed ahead! Crush those pathetic Gallian peasants beneath Our feet!" he commanded.

***

Welkin could only look in awe at the monstrous dreadnaught that towered above him.

"That thing is the Marmota?" he asked, shocked at its size.

"Now I see why they call it a 'battleship on legs,'" Largo mentioned.

"As if the Batomys wasn't big enough," Rosie said.

Selvaria gazed at the Marmota while the other members of the detonation squad were talking.

_Jaeger said the Marmota would be huge, but I never thought it would be this huge!_

**_Amazing isn't it? The horrors that man is capable of creating?_**

The ground suddenly shook as the Marmota began to slowly move towards them, threatening to flatten them. Welkin turned on his microphone and shouted:

"Squad 7, move out!" He closed the hatch of the Edelweiss and Kreiss started the engine. Selvaria checked the Ruhm to make sure it was properly armed and began running forward with the other members of Squad 7. She felt a bullet fly by her face and looked back to see the Marmota has begun to fire its machine guns on them.

Welkin's voice echoed over the squad's radios. "We need two fast runners to go on ahead and detonate the two bombs that will block the main road to Randgriz. Also, our scouts have reported that an old minefield from the first Europan war is close by. Zaka and I will take the lead since the mines are anti-personnel. If anybody sees a ragnite bomb, wait for everyone to get by it, then detonate it. Let's get going!"

Selvaria picked up her radio. "I will go on ahead. I've been trained for this kind of thing."

"I will go as well Lieutenant," Juno said after Selvaria finished. Selvaria began to run as fast as she could. She arrived to where the two bombs were and waited for Juno to catch up.

"Good to see you Selvaria. We should shoot these bombs at the same time so we'll have plenty of time to escape." Juno said. Selvaria nodded and aimed her gun at the bomb to her left. The pair looked at each other and nodded.

"One…two…three!" Selvaria shouted. She pulled the trigger of the Ruhm and a barrage of bullets hit the ragnite bomb, causing it to glow with blue light. Both of them turned and ran as it exploded, causing a large rockslide to roll into the valley. Two more explosions were heard behind them, the rockslides forming a massive wall of stone, forcing the Marmota to stop.

Selvaria and Juno caught up to the others and stopped for a minute to catch their breath since everyone else was taking a break.

"The main road to Randgriz has been blocked Lieutenant," Selvaria said. Welkin smiled and nodded.

"Great! Now we don't have to worry…" He was cut off as the Marmota's engines roared and it forced itself through the landslide, completely unharmed. Welkin looked surprised at the Marmota's show of force.

"I wonder why they called it the Marmota. It looks nothing like a Marmot," he commented.

"What?" Selvaria asked.

"A Marmot is an animal that belong to the Sciuridae family, or as they're better known as, squirrels. Their genus is called 'Marmota,' which is why I'm wondering why they picked that of all names," he explained. Alicia walked over to him.

"Now is not the time to be talking about that Welkin!" she shouted. Welkin got back into the Edelweiss, knowing he couldn't argue with Alicia. Both of the tanks moved forward into the small base where the minefield was located. Sure enough, a lot of small explosions occurred beneath the tanks as the mines exploded harmlessly.

"All right, we've cleared a straight path through. Whoever is last through, detonate the ragnite bomb near the base, then run!" he commanded over the radio. The other squad members ran through the cleared path, with Selvaria being second last. Before she had passed through the minefield, she tripped on a root. She was grabbed before she hit the ground and turned around to see it was Largo.

"Watch where you're going! You nearly hit that damn landmine!" he shouted, pointing at a shiny object on the ground. Selvaria recognized it as the motion sensor device the Imperials place on top of their landmines.

"Thank you Largo," she said.

Largo just patted her on the shoulder before turning around and firing a rocket at the ragnite bomb near the base. Both of them ran through the rest of the minefield as the bomb exploded and a wall of rocks rolled into the valley.

***

"What is wrong now? Why have we stopped again?" Maximilian shouted, his voice extremely irritated.

"Your grace, we cannot go along the main road to Randgriz. There's simply to many boulders for the Marmota to break through!" a soldier shouted. Maximilian began to tap his fingers.

"Then turn left you imbeciles!" he shouted in response.

***

The ground shook as the Marmota turned down the valley to its left and stopped again in front of the next rockslide.

"No time to rest guys. Alicia has just reported that there are several Imperials that have set up camp near the last ragnite bombs, so we'll have to get rid of them first. Marina! Catherine! Zaka and I will go on ahead, snipe all the Imperials and use our tank as cover!" Welkin commanded. The two snipers followed behind the tanks as the Imperials came into view.

"Jann! Once the imps have been taken care of, detonate the bomb next to you and then follow us to the final bombs!" Welkin ordered.

Marina looked through the scope of her sniper rifle and focused the center on the forehead of one of the Imps.

"So what are you going to do with your payche…" The Imperial who had been talking was blown backward as Marina's bullet pierced him in the brain, killing him instantly. The other Imperial soldiers quickly took out their weapons and began to aim at the Edelweiss.

"Sweet dreams," Marina said, looking down her scope again and sniping an Imperial lancer. The lancer fell backwards, his hand activating the lance, a rocket flying off and blowing up on the ground. The explosion sent several Imperial soldiers flying. Catherine quickly dispatched two of them before they could get up and Marina finished of the last one.

Jann aimed his lance at the ragnite bomb once everyone ran on ahead to catch up with Welkin.

"Hit please!" he shouted as his rocket flew forward and collided with the ragnite bomb. Jann turned around and ran off to catch up with his comrades. Once he caught up with them, he went over to Largo.

"Did you see how accurate that shot was, honey?" he asked. Largo looked like he was going to say something but just walked away. Three explosions were heard as massive rockslides blocked off the other main road to Randgriz and the road they came from, creating massive rock walls.

"Now, prepare for the Marmota. Once it gets here, everyone is to get behind either of the tanks for cover from the Marmota's bullets," Welkin said.

***

The Marmota charged through the rock wall in front of it and continued forward. It quickly reached the abandoned base, crushing whatever was left. It continued to gain speed and smashed through the rock wall Jann had made.

"Finally, We can get to Randgriz!" Maximilian shouted confidently. However, a soldier told him the bad news.

"Your Grace, we'll have to take a detour. The other main road to Randgriz has been blocked like the first one."

Maximilian remained silent for a minute. "No matter. The fact that these Gallians have to resort to such pathetic traps makes it obvious they can't stop us. Take the detour immediately," he commanded.

***

"The Marmota is turning! We've done it guys! Now let's get back to the hill to help out the Royal Guard!" Welkin said. Everyone began to shout out in victory, but it was not to last.

Squad 7 reached the hill just as the Marmota arrived at the ambush. The commander of the royal forces for this mission raised his hand into the air, and pointed at the Marmota.

"Fire!" he shouted. All of the royal guard tanks opened fire on the Marmota, explosions ravaging every inch of its bow. The mines began to go off as the Marmota charged forward. A massive cloud of smoke had formed, preventing anyone from seeing if the operation worked.

Within a few seconds, the Marmota charged out of the smoke cloud and trampled the Royal Guard's forces, leaving behind a trail of tanks parts and blood stains as it continued forward, unharmed.

"This can't be. It's not even damaged one bit?" Varrot said, shocked at what just happened.

"So, what Maximilian said is true. Only a Valkyrur could hope to stop the Marmota," Jaeger whispered to himself, viewing the carnage that the colossal tank had created.

Selvaria knew what she had to do. She and Alicia looked at each other for a second before running over to Welkin.

"It looks like we have to resort to this," Alicia said nervously. Welkin's expression became frustrated.

"As much as I would prefer not to use your powers, the higher-ups commanded that you use it," he said as he handed Alicia her spear and shield. He turned and handed Selvaria her lance and shield as well. "If you can stop the Marmota, then this war will be over. So don't fail you two."

Both Selvaria and Alicia nodded. They noticed that Varrot was standing right next to them.

"It's just as Lieutenant Gunther said. They ordered it, and they threatened to execute you Selvaria if I didn't comply," Varrot explained. "There is a shortcut nearby that will get you in front of the Marmota. Jaeger will escort there while the rest of the squads follow the Marmota."

They both got into the Lupus and sat down. As the Lupus was moving, Selvaria looked down at her weaponry.

_I always hated how these felt in my hands. Every time I touch them, it feels as though they're alive and feeding off my azure flames, like a parasite._

**That is because they call out to you, begging you to unleash their ultimate power upon all that dare to stand before you. Now that you have them back, use them! Annihilate these Gallian mortals and go back to His Majesty!**

Selvaria shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to purge the voice. It soon faded and she opened her eyes again.

"The last thing Maximilian sees will be the azure flame tearing the Marmota to shreds." Jaeger said confidently. Selvaria and Alicia got out of the Lupus and stood in the middle of the Marmota's path.

Selvaria took a deep breath in, concentrating on the lance and shield. Within a few seconds, her body began to glow blue, her hair beginning to levitate in mid air by some supernatural force. The lance and shield transformed quickly, doubling in size. Selvaria opened her eyes, a red glow radiating from them like a demon.

Selvaria looked over at Alicia, who had begun to concentrate. The same transformation happened, dulling Alicia's hair to a gray tone. The ground began to rumble as the Marmota turned into the open plains that the two Valkyria stood upon.

***

"Maximilian sir! We have an omega red emergency! Gallia's Valkyrur and Selvaria Bles are in front of the Marmota and armed!" a soldier shouted.

"What?" Maximilian shouted as he stormed to the front of the bridge and looked out the window. Sure enough, two Valkyria stood before them. Maximilian grabbed a soldier's binoculars and spied at them.

"How dare you betray me Selvaria!" he shouted as he noticed Gallia's 'scout' badge attached to her left sleeve. "Turn the Marmota ninety degrees to the right and move full speed! If those witches catch up, we won't stand a chance!"

***

"Follow me!" Selvaria shouted as she ran forward at incredible speed, leaving several after-images in her wake. Alicia charged forward as well, her thoughts encouraging her.

_This is it. If we can do this, then this war will be over! Peace will come back to Gallia!_

The two Valkyria quickly got to the Marmota's side. Selvaria channeled her power into the lance and jumped up into the air and cut one of the cannons in half, a massive explosion engulfing the area. Alicia fired a massive beam of azure energy, severely damaging the plating around the engines. Several fires broke out near the engine area and the tank began to lose speed.

"We're losing speed Your Grace!" a soldier shouted as sirens rang throughout the Marmota.

The battle raged on for a few minutes, the two Valkyria had destroyed many of the Marmota's cannons and damaged different areas of the Marmota. Alicia looked up and saw the bridge. She channeled all the energy she could into her lance and jumped up the Marmota's side.

Maximilian had an expression of murder on his face when he looked up and saw Alicia standing on the window.

"This is for all those innocent people you killed, Maximilian!" she shouted as she jumped up and lunged forward, smashing through the glass, bent on ending Maximilian.

**No! I cannot have you kill His Majesty!**

In that moment, everything seemed to stop. Selvaria began to feel incredible pain coming from her head as everything blacked out around her.

Maximilian closed his eyes for the inevitable but it never came. He opened his eyes to a shocking sight. Alicia's eyes grew wide as she realized what had blocked her lance.

Standing between Maximilian and Alicia was none other than Selvaria. However, Alicia knew something was wrong. Instead of the normal azure flame that covered a Valkyria, Selvaria's body was glowing blood red, her eyes had become red with black pupils and her lance and shield were dyed blood red. 'Selvaria' looked up at Alicia and whispered:

**"Once I kill you, Gallia's annihilation will come."**

-------------------

What will happen next chapter? You will find out…


	9. Cobalt and Crimson

Man, sorry for the very later update. I need good marks to get into the college I want to go to, so I've been working my butt off on schoolwork. However, I managed to squeeze enough time one weekend to get this chapter done.

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and its characters belong to SEGA.

-------

All that could be heard in the Marmota's command room was the flames of both the valkyria, hissing and crackling as they collided against each other.

Alicia could only stare in confusion and fear at the unexpected enemy that now stood in front of her. Sweat dripped down the side of her face.

_What is going on? This power is so tremendous. It feels like my lungs are being crushed.  
Not only that, but Selvaria has changed. She looks so…demonic._

"Who are you and what have you done with Selvaria?" she shouted. 'Selvaria' gazed right at Alicia. Her mouth twisted into an evil smile.

"**I'm Selvaria. Who else would I be?" **she hissed, her voice echoing with a demonic tone. While the two Valkyria stood staring at each other, Maximilian was thinking to himself.

_What is happening? The Valkyur research team spoke nothing about this! We'll question them later about these events. For now, We'll use her, for she seems to be loyal to Us again._

Maximilian pointed his finger at Alicia and shouted: "Selvaria! Kill her!" At that instant, Selvaria charged forward with lightning speed and slammed into Alicia, sending them both off the Marmota's bridge and plummeting to the ground below.

Alicia and Selvaria both thrusted their lances into the Marmota's hull to slow their fall. The lances tore a huge gash on the Marmota's front, destroying both of the front machine guns in the process.

"Turn the Marmota around and head to Randgriz!" Maximilian shouted at the soldiers. The Marmota slowly turned and vanished behind a mountain, the roars of its engine filling the air.

Selvaria put up a continuous offense, preventing Alicia from doing anything besides defending with her shield. Alicia took a chance and fired a wave of Cobalt energy at Selvaria when she dropped her guard for a second, sending Selvaria flying.

Alicia put on the offensive, batting at Selvaria while she was trying to get up and knocked Selvaria's lance out of her hand. The lance landed on the ground and shrank back to its normal size. Alicia charged into Selvaria, knocking her back to the ground and thrusting her lance at her neck, its sharp tip threatening to end her life.

Alicia was about to talk when Jaeger ran over.

"What have you done with Selvaria?" he questioned. Selvaria simply grinned at him.

"**I am Selvaria. What are you talking about Jaeger?" **she replied.

"I have known and fought alongside Selvaria for enough time to know that she has more honor than this. She would not foolishly go back to the man that wanted her to kill herself without a good enough reason." He explained. Selvaria laughed at him in response.

"**You have no idea how wrong you are Jaeger and you'll realize it soon enough." **she said. Jaeger walked over to where Alicia was and took a gun and aimed it at Selvaria.

"Maybe after a good night's rest you'll be back to normal." he said, pulling the trigger. The bullet sailed through Alicia's cobalt flame, causing the bullet to glow blue and hit Selvaria's shoulder.

"**How? Only Valkyrian weapons can harm the Valkyur. If only I had more of my power! You will pay for this!" **she hissed at Jaeger as she slumped over and fell onto the ground. Alicia ran over and checked for Selvaria's hearbeat. Jaeger put his hand on Alicia's shoulder.

"Relax. The bullet is laced with a powerful sleeping powder, so she'll be asleep for a few hours." he said reassuringly. Alicia nodded and the two of them carried Selvaria's body and weapons back to the other Gallian forces.

***

The Marmota had to stop due to the heavy damage to the engines when the two valkyrian lances cut open a gash in the Marmota's hull. Maximilian was in his room, using his own personal radio to communicate with someone.

"We thought We had made it clear when Our father let you begin your research. Never did you mention anything about crimson flames." Maximilian barked at the radio. A response came a few seconds later.

"We had no idea something like that existed until you gave us sketches of the symbols inside the temple at Barius. We have examined them and we know what those crimson flames are. They mean…"

***

Night had arrived, and the Gallian militia set up camp on a hillside. Off in the distance they could make out the shape of the Marmota. Varrot and a few other had gathered within the command tent.

"She changed? How?" Varrot asked.

"Everything about her seemed…demonic. Her cobalt flames became bloody crimson in color and her voice began to echo, like some kind of spirit." Alicia explained. Varrot looked over at Jaeger.

"Alicia is correct. That was not Selvaria. As I spoke to it, I could feel a sense of bloodlust in the air." he commented. Varrot nodded.

"Then I shall speak to the commanders about this. I shall be back shortly." she said as she got up and left. Silence filled the room for several minutes until Alicia spoke up.

"How did that bullet harm her?" she asked. Jaeger leaned back in his chair and smiled a bit.

"While I was at the Imperial capital, I came across a book that explained different ways how to harm a Valkyur without using Valkyrian weapons. One of the methods was to use a projectile. When an object targets a valkyria, such as bullets, tank shells, etc, the cobalt flames incinerate it before it ever reaches them. However, if a projectile passes through the cobalt flames without hitting the Valkyria's body, it becomes laced with valkyrian energy, making it capable of hurting Valkyria. That's why I walked over to you, so that I could fire my gun and have the bullet pass through your flames." He thoroughly explained. Alicia nodded her head. Soon after, Varrot entered.

"Many of them want to execute Selvaria to prevent something like this from happening again, however, they don't want to give up a Valkyria. That's why they're assigning you this task Alicia." Varrot explained and handed Alicia an envelope. Inside was a letter that read:

_Alicia. If Selvaria is to ever go out of control again, you are ordered to kill her. If you do not comply with this order, you will be branded a traitor and imprisoned._

Alicia nodded her head. "I understand." She said and walked off to her tent. Jaeger got up and walked over to the Lupus. He leaned his back against it and thought.

_It might be as I feared…_

***

I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I was having writers block. I could have done better on this chapter, so I'll make it up in the next one.

Next time on a Valkyria's Redemption! Gallia's militia is in hot pursuit of the Marmota, which has suffered severe damage! Will they take it out and end the war? Or will Maximilian reach Randgriz?

Thank you for all the reviews so far everyone! And I hope you'll continue to read as I put out more chapters. Till next time.


	10. Dawn of a New Resolution

Disclaimer: Valkyria Chronicles and it's characters are owned by SEGA.

In an attempt to gain a lead on the gallian forces that were encamped an hour or so back, the Marmota began moving in the dead of night, creeping along the ground as its engines moaned a painful sound. The two Valkyria had severely damaged the front of the Marmota an hour ago and it was paying the price. Eventually, the Marmota made a loud hissing sound as its engines hissed their last moan.

"Your highness, we're going to have to stop for an hour and repair the engines. They're heavily damaged." A soldier explained. Maximilian slammed his fist on the small plate next to him, shattering the plate and spilling his food all over the floor.

"Those damn Valkyria! Even when Selvaria listened to Us and atacked that girl, she still ruined my plans!" Maximilian roared in pure anger, "At this rate, We'll never get to Randgriz before those annoying pests catch up to Us!" The soldier backed away a little at Maximilian's outburst.

"Sir, We can still stall them from reaching us. We'll simply deploy the forces from Fhirald to delay them. That way, we can get the engines repaired and get a move onto Randgriz without the Gallian militia catching up to us."The soldier explained in a calm voice, trying to reassure Maximilian.

"For your sake, you had better be right." Maximilian threatened before storming off to the deck of the Marmota.

_Even if they did catch up to Us, they will have to deal with our newest weapon. Even a Valkyria would fall before it's raw power._

_/  
_

A man was slowly walking inside a grand, massive hall, the only noise coming from his foot steps. He eventually reached a door and pushed it open. Inside was a majestic room, with many decorations fashioned from gold, diamonds and many expensive jewels.

"It appears that Maximilian is going to become too powerful at this rate." the man said, bowing his head at the person who was sitting in the chair in front of him. The man stting in the chair smiled.

"So he's after the Valkof I assume?" he asked. The first man nodded. "Then let him go after his fairytales. Gallia will finish him off for me and rid me of a bother that's plagued my existence for a while now." he said. The first man got up.

"Then I shall go...my future emperor." The man took his leave, leaving the figure on the chair to himself.

_Let Maximillian pursue his Valkof. I on the other hand, will be pursuing the artificial valkyrian research that gallian family has been researching. Gassenarl was it? hahahhahah._

_/  
_

_What happened...?_ The woman said as her vision became more focused, revealing three figures standing next to her.

"Selvaria!" Several voices echoed around her, which snapped her out of her drowsy state.

"Where am I? What happened?" Selvaria softly questioned as she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings, her body and head feeling extremely heavy.

"The emergency medical tent. You lost control of your powers and fought against Alicia." Jaeger answered.

Selvaria quickly snapped out of her dazed state when she remembered a voice shouting in her head and taking control of her.

"Is Alicia okay?" She worringly asked. Jaeger nodded in confirmation. Selvaria let out a relieving breath. She was about to get up when her stomach growled, which caused Jaeger to smile.

"Why don't you go see Alicia up on the cliff nearby while I fetch something to eat for us?" He offered. Selvaria simply nodded, then left the tent to find Alicia. When she had left, Jaeger's face became worried.

_Selvaria...please watch yourself._

_/  
_

Half of the the Fhirald tank squadron was moving through the forest, intent on delaying the gallian forces while the Marmota was being fixed to operational capacity. They stopped a couple kilometres away from the Gallian camp, setting up camp and fortifications in the surrounding bush to ambush the Gallian forces when they resumed their pursuit tomorrow.

"So why did Maximillian only send half of us to attack the Gallians? They outnumber us!" One engineer complained.

"Most likely because Maximillian sees us as expendable, especially since we're Fhiralden." Another engineer commented.

There was an air of uncertainty amongst the Firahldin soldiers, with a mix of doom. The majority of them knew they would not survive the next day, yet deserting their orders meant death by the Empire and perhaps even worse, even harsher treatment of their homeland by the Empire for their insubordination.

/

The other half of the Fhiraldin forces were heading towards Vassal bridge, to prevent the Gallian forces from escaping, as well as to lock down the city.

Most of the Fhiraldin soldiers were demoralized by the loss of their leader Jaeger, but they still had resolution in their hearts. The sun was beginning to rise as the soldiers looked onto the horizon, knowing a great battle and the end of the war was on the horizon.

/

Maximillian didn't sleep that much that night. The repairs to the Marmota kept him awake. He got up and looked out at the rising sun.

_Once We have the Valkof, not even the two Valkyria could survive its almighty power. Then, I shall get Gallia's surrender. Once Gallia has become Ours, I will bring the Marmota back and kill every single one of my brothers and my father for the murder of Our mother, and the throne shall be mine. Then not even the Federation will be able to stand against Our divien might._

_/  
_

Selvaria found Alicia on top of a nearby cliff, who was talking to Welkin. Welkin seemed to have noticed her, as he waved, ushering Selvaria over.

"Are you alright Alicia?" Selvaria asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You don't need to worry." Alicia replied back.

Selvaria released yet another relieved breath and sat down next to the two. Varrot shouted at Welkin to come with her, so he bid the two goodbye and left, leaving the two Valkyrur alone.

"I have a question to ask you Selvaria. What do you plan to do after we defeat Maximillian?" Alicia asked.

"I plan to help Jaeger reclaim Fhirald's independence, but after that, I haven't really thought of that." Selvaria replied.

"If you don't have any idea where to go, why not come stay with me and Welkin in Bruhl? You could help me with my Bakery I plan to start up!" Alicia cheerfully reccomended.

Selvaria thought for a minute. She had been raised as a soldier, so there was many things that were foreign to her. She had seen a few bakeries when she was younger, and they had always interested her. Everyone looking happy as they purchased their bread, the baker looking happy...

***Flashback***

Doctor Forrester decided to bring Selvaria to the imperial city so she could be introduced to the Emperor, who was funding the Valkyria research. Forrester stopped by a bakery to buy a snack for herself, as Selvaria was on a strict diet of food mixed with strength and endurance enhancing pills and powders. Forrester took the sweetroll she had bought when a young Selvaria innocently asked:

"May I have one please?"

Forrester quickly contemplated and then bought another one for Selvaria. The baker handed it to the young Selvaria. "Enjoy!" the baker exclaimed. Selvaria smiled and began to eat the sweetroll.

"Do not mention this to the other scientists, and never tell me I've never done anything good for you. You got that Selvaria?" Forrester hissed. Selvaria nodded and continued eating her sweetroll.

***End flashback***

She had killed many people in her life, perhaps to the point that her soul was stained with death. But if she could help people and make them happy with her cooking, then she felt it would help easy the sins of her past.

"Very well then Alicia. When I'm done in Fhirald, I'll come and work at your bakery." Selvaria said. Alicia nodded happily, as the two looked out onto the horizon as the sun rose, its rays of light bringing a sense of hope to Selvaria's mindset.

_We **must** win this war...At all costs!_

*********************End Chapter************************

This chapter is bound to be filled with some grammar problems and spelling stuff, sue me. I've been doing calculus and physics for the past little while and I'm tired out. Anyway, thank you for waiting everyone. On that note, soon I'll be updating my profile where I'll update the status of this fanfic, so if there's going to be a delay or what not, I'll note it on my profile. Expect another chapter either later this month or early next. Till next time!


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